Chasing an elusive international hundred for 28 months now, Virat Kohli would hope for a turnaround at his ‘spiritual home’ when India take on an under-prepared and injury-hit Sri Lanka in the second Test, with the action unfolding under flood lights, in Bengaluru from Saturday.
Chasing an elusive international hundred for 28 months now, Virat Kohli would hope for a turnaround at his ‘spiritual home’ when India take on an under-prepared and injury-hit Sri Lanka in the second Test, with the action unfolding under flood lights, in Bengaluru from Saturday. Interestingly, the last time Kohli reached a three-figure mark, it was a ‘Pink Ball’ game in which India thrashed Bangladesh by an innings and 46 runs in Kolkata, back in November 2019. He had scored 136 back then. The former India skipper has taken strike in 28 innings since then but a Test hundred has remained elusive. The 33-year-old has got a 50-plus score only six times with highest being a knock of 79 against South Africa in Cape Town in January this year.
Now he is returning to the M Chinnaswamy stadium, a venue which he knows like the back of his palm as he has led his IPL side Royal Challengers Bangalore here (RCB) for a decade. That comforting familiarity with the conditions may also help.
Kohli vs tough times
A colossus that he has developed into in world cricket, expectations are always high from the star Indian cricketer, who is perhaps enduring the most challenging phase of his career and not just in pure cricketing terms.
Kohli’s run-in with the establishment and the subsequent removal from the leadership role in ODIs may have added pressure but he can breath easy since in Sri Lanka he faces a bowling attack, which hardly has the wherewithal to trouble the Indian batters in their own den.