Virat Kohli’s Poor Run Of Form Earns Him Unwanted Batting Record; Surpasses Rahul Dravid
Published - 30 Dec 2021, 07:15 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:02 AM
Indian Test captain Virat Kohli’s failure to score a half-century in the recently concluded first Test match against South Africa in Supersport Park in Centurion has led to him creating an unwanted batting record for the national team, surpassing the likes of Rahul Dravid, Ajinkya Rahane, and Cheteshwar Pujara.
It is a widely known fact that Virat Kohli has not made a century in any of the international formats since November 2019, when he made a brilliant ton in India’s first-ever day-night Test match against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
After scoring 35 and 18 in the two innings of the first Test match in centurion against South Africa, Virat Kohli’s career batting average fell for the 14th consecutive time, a streak that began exactly on the day he scored his last international century.
In both innings, he fell in the same method first chasing the wide ball and getting caught in slips to Lungi Ngidi and then was dismissed doing the same thing to debutant Marco Jansen and getting caught by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock. Therefore, his average has dropped from 54.97 to 50.34, the lowest he has registered since November 2017.
Virat Kohli’s Century Drought Extends To 768 Days; His Streak Of Falling Averages Surpasses That Of Rahul Dravid
India captain Virat Kohli has now earned the unwanted Indian record for the longest streak in Test cricket of Test average falling successively surpassing former Indian cricketer and incumbent head coach Rahul Dravid. His streak of 14 innings is the most by an Indian batsman in Test cricket.
Next in line is Ajinkya Rahane with 13 such innings which incidentally started after his marvellous century in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne last year. Following Rahane and Kohli are Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahul Dravid with a streak of 11 innings when their averages in Test cricket fell successively.
In addition to that, Virat Kohli’s century drought has extended to 768 days as the Indian skipper recorded the second consecutive year without an international century.
Since his 136 at the Eden Gardens, Kohli has played 14 Tests, scoring 652 runs at 26.08 with five half-centuries and 15 ODIs, where he scored 649 runs at 43.26 with eight fifties. He also featured in 23 T02I matches where he managed 777 runs with seven half-centuries.
