A Record In His Eyeline, Trying To Get That Tendulkar Record Of 100 International Hundreds: Brad Hogg On Virat Kohli Stepping Down

Former Australian spinner Brad Hogg has opined that Virat Kohli has decided to leave T20 Internationals and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captaincy to concentrate on matching Sachin Tendulkar’s record of 100 international Centuries.

Talking about Virat Kohli’s decision to leave RCB captaincy after the IPL 2021, Brad Hogg said that Kohli is concentrating on the longer format of the game.

“He has stepped down from the international position of T20 captain and also RCB. This is a bigger picture, where he is concentrating on the longer format of the game. He wants to lead India in Test cricket and ODIs. But there’s a record in his eyeline as well – trying to get that Tendulkar record of 100 international hundreds,” The former left-arm spinner Brad Hogg said.

Further Brad Hogg pinpointed that Virat Kohli is already very close to Sachin’s tally of hundred in ODI but is very far away in Tests and he wants to match Tendulkar’s record of 51 Test centuries. Hogg said:

“He’s well up there with Sachin in ODIs, having got 43 hundreds at the present moment. But he has only got 27 hundreds in Tests. Tendulkar got 51 hundreds in 200 games. I think Kohli wants to concentrate on Test cricket and match Tendulkar’s record of having 50 Test hundreds under his belt. He wants to become one of the greats as well. I think that’s where Kohli’s going.”

I think he should still be captain in the 50-over format: Brad Hogg

According to former Australian cricketer, Virat Kohli should remain the captain of the India national cricket team in the One Day Internationals.

“I think it is very good that he has jumped out of the T20 role. The one-day team is not much different from the Test team. You need a different captain for the T20 format, but I think he should still be captain in the 50-over format”

Also, Brad Hogg further added that he believes Kohli will not play much of T20 cricket and maintain his focus in ODIs and Tests after the next T20 World Cup.

“Don’t think Kohli will play much T20 cricket after the next World Cup (2022). He might give it up to concentrate on Tests and one-dayers. Remember he has got a new family, there are a lot of bio-bubble security issues and players are stressed out in those scenarios. That might lead Kohli to not play T20 cricket in a couple of years’ time.”