'Get your batting right': Virat Kohli shaken up by 'five-year-struggle' reality as Andy Roberts loses hopes of revival
Andy Roberts lost all hope of Virat Kohli's revival despite a century Perth against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series opener.
Former India captain Virat Kohli, on Tuesday, was shaken up up a hard-hitting reality on his ongoing struggle in Test cricket as West Indies' fast bowling legend Andy Roberts lost all hope of revival despite a century Perth against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series opener.
Kohli faced a lot of criticism in the lead-up to the tour of Australia, following a lean run of form, including the performance against New Zealand at home, Australia great Ricky Ponting had pointed out that the 36-year-old scored only two centuries in the last five years, as he questioned if any other top-order batter would have survived a similar run in international cricket.
Kohli was quick to shut the criticism with his 81st international century, his first Test ton in 16 months, in Perth as India won by a record margin of 295 runs. But Roberts, speaking to Mid Day, showed Kohli the larger picture.
Despite labelling him as “one of the best batsmen of all-time,” Roberts highlighted that Kohli has struggled in the format over the last five years, which he believed as due to his lack of focus in the traditional format of the game.
"I don’t know if there will be a revival after the Adelaide defeat, but get your batting right. One of your best batsmen of all-time has been struggling for the last five years,” he said referring to Kohli. “He needs to be focused on the longer version of the game. You will get runs and score heavily in Test cricket only when you are fully focused on the longer form. The standard of Test cricket is not the same. The top batsmen look as if they are struggling.”
When further asked if by lack of focus he meant that T20 cricket played a role in his lean form, Roberts laughed: “I will leave that for the pundits.”
How did Kohli perform in last 5 years?
Since the start of 2020, Kohli has scored 1961 runs in 64 innings at 32.14, with only three centuries and nine fifties. Among the Fab Four, Kohli ranks the lowest in terms of average, with Kane Williamson leading the overall chart of cricketers who have at least batted in 25 innings since 2020. Moreover, among all the players who batted for India in the top 7 during this period, Kohli finds his name only ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, both of whom were dropped in 2023 following a lean run of form.
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