A Century Doesn't Define How Big A Player Virat Kohli Is, So What If He Has Not Scored A Century: Mohammed Shami
Published - 27 Jan 2022, 11:51 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:03 AM
India pacer Mohammad Shami has said that former India captain Virat Kohli not scoring a century is not a big deal and one cannot judge someone of Kohli’s caliber due to his ongoing century drought. Virat Kohli, who recently gave up the Indian team Test captaincy, has not scored a century in international cricket since 2019.
His last ton came against Bangladesh in India’s maiden Day-night Test in Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in November 2019 and since then his fans are waiting for him to score his 71st international century and go past Ricky Ponting to become the batter with the second most tons to his name in international cricket after the great Sachin Tendulkar, who has 100 centuries to his name.
Kohli’s last ODI century came against West Indies in 2019 as well, but Mohammad Shami played down Kohli’s drought of international centuries.
“So what, if he (Kohli) has not scored a century. A century doesn’t define how big a player he is. It is not that he has not scored runs. He has scored fifties consistently in the recent past and there is no reason why we should even think like that. A fifty or a sixty is also a score and as long as it is helping the team, there is no reason to complain,” Shami told India.com.
He Is A Bowler’s Captain: Mohammad Shami On Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli brought a transformation to the Indian team making them one of the best teams in the world which had some of the best fast bowlers ever seen. With the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Shardul Thakur coming through and Navdeep Saini, T Natarajan waiting in the wings, the Indian team’s fast bowling contingent has become an envy of other units.
It was under Kohli’s leadership some of Mohammad Shami’s epic performances came to the fore. He credited the captain for bringing in that ‘energy’ and giving them the freedom to ‘express’ themselves.
“Kohli’s energy is the best thing and that rubs on to the rest of the team. He is a bowler’s captain and always gave us the freedom to express ourselves. He would always take our opinion and ask for options. We have spent so much time together and there are so many memorable moments. It will always remain with me and it is difficult to pick or choose any one such moment,” Shami said.
Mohammad Shami picked 14 wickets in 3 Tests in South Africa and was rested for the ODI series. He has also been rested for the upcoming ODI and T20I series against West Indies at home.
