Legendary West Indies pacer Andy Roberts recently weighed in on Virat Kohli‘s inconsistent red-ball form, noting that the Indian ace has struggled in Test cricket for nearly five years.
Kohli’s form was a talking point ahead of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. While he showcased a glimpse of his prime with an unbeaten century in the opening match at Perth, he managed only 7 and 11 in the following Adelaide pink-ball Test.
Roberts advised Kohli to prioritize Test cricket to overcome his struggles. Speaking with Mid-Day, the former fast bowler remarked:
“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 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.”
Several experts believed Virat Kohli would rediscover his form during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, considering his impressive track record in Australia. However, with three failures in four innings, the seasoned batter urgently needs a revival.
“He must move past this quickly”- Pujara on Kohli’s twin failures in Adelaide
Cheteshwar Pujara urged Virat Kohli to move past his twin failures in the Adelaide Test. He noted that Australian pacers exploited Kohli’s weakness outside off-stump and advised the 36-year-old to focus on the next Test. Speaking on Star Sports, Pujara said:
“He will have to forget this at the earliest. Somewhere or the other, the slight weakness he has outside the off-stump where he gets out many times, the Australian bowlers kept bowling in the same channel and exploited that weakness.”
“Virat Kohli will just have to keep in mind that the way he batted in Perth, he made a big score, it will be expected from him that he plays a similar knock in Brisbane, but for that, when you have a failure, you have to emerge from it, forget it quickly and focus on the next match.”
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