Virat Kohli has to be patient to end century-drought, says VVS Laxman

Former India batter VVS Laxman stated that Virat Kohli does not have a technical or mental deficiency that prevents him from reaching a three-figure score, and that the India captain must be patient to end the long drought for a century in international cricket. Laxman predicted that a three-figure score would come Virat Kohli’s way soon, and that once it did, Kohli would be back to scoring big runs for India. Virat Kohli was dismissed for 36 on Day 3 of the 2nd Test against New Zealand in Mumbai.

Kohli looked good, taking the attack to the New Zealand spinners, but he fell in the post-Lunch session while trying to play a cross-batted shot against Rachin Ravindra. Kohli was dissatisfied with himself after dragging one onto the stumps after a promising start on a difficult pitch.

Mayank Agarwal, who led the way with 150 runs in the first innings, top-scored again with 62 as India declared on 276/7, setting New Zealand a 540-run target. New Zealand were 5 down for 140 at stumps and face an uphill battle to save the Test with two days remaining.

‘HE IS IN COMPLETE CONTROL’

“It’s not about the mindset. The fact of the matter is, till the time Virat Kohli is on the crease, everyone thinks ‘today is the match, today is the innings where he is going to get that 3-figure score’. Till the time, he is in the middle, he in complete control. It happened in a couple of matches in England. It happened in Adelaide where he was dominating the Australian attack before being run out by Ajinkya Rahane. Even today, the shot that he played was unfortunate, the ball came very slow, there was an inside edge and he got bowled,” Laxman told Star Sports.

“I just think he has to wait patiently. If there is a pattern in the way he is getting dismissed, when he is out there in the middle if he is struggling to time the ball, if he is struggling to get on top of the ball, then it’s a problem. I don’t think he has that problem. I just think it’s about him going out and playing a long innings and once that long innings comes, once he gets to that milestone, we all know what Virat Kohli can do,” the former Indian batter added.

Virat Kohli’s most recent international century came in November 2019 against Bangladesh in a day-night Test in Kolkata. Kohli was out for naught in the first innings by Ajaz Patel, and his innings was cut short by Ravindra in the second innings of the Mumbai Test. In 2021, Kohli has scored 483 runs in 17 innings in Tests, with an average of less than 29.