Virat Kohli is arguably one of the best batsmen of this generation. He has numerous accolades and achievements to his name. Kohli is especially known for his consistency and playing under pressure qualities. India wins most of its matches while chasing if Kohli is on the crease. The Run Machine has made and broken so many records, which makes him a phenomenal player. He is the only Indian batsman to score seven double centuries in test cricket. Virat broke the record of the legend Sachin Tendulkar in the 2023 World Cup for the most centuries in ODI cricket. However, there was a phase in Kohli’s life when he went almost three years without scoring a hundred. There is a famous line said by former Indian cricketer, Sanjay Manjrekar that “Virat Kohli’s success does not surprise you. His failures do.”
Kohli went on without century for almost three years
Before his century drought started, Virat’s last hundred came in November 2019 against Bangladesh. Kohli played an inning of 136 runs in Kolkata. After this, Virat played more than 70 innings in international cricket but went without scoring a century. Although he used to get a great start, he wasn’t able to convert it into a big score. He crossed the 50-run mark several times but wasn’t able to reach his 71st international century.
If we talk about his T20 stats, he consistently scored runs with an average of 56.40 and had a strike rate of 145.11. The Chase Master was unbeaten on many occasions, crossing the 50-mark and winning the games for the team. He was also in great form in ODI and consistently reached the milestone of 50 runs in most of his matches. Some of those half-centuries came in consecutive matches, but why he wasn’t able to convert them into a 100 left many people questioning.
Kohli bats in the top order in all three formats (test, ODI and T20) and comes in third position, so it was surprising to see him unable to reach his milestone. When his century drought started, Virat was dismissed in each of his innings in Tests and ODIs. For someone who set a high standard for converting every alternate fifty into a hundred, this rough patch did leave a sore feeling in the hearts of his fans.
Virat’s lean run was not very usual
The longest streak of consecutive innings of dismissals before scoring a century by any batsman in men’s Test and ODI matches is Kieran Powell’s 94 innings. Including Powell, there have been several other instances when batsmen have been dismissed like Kohli before scoring centuries in 49 or more consecutive innings in Tests and ODIs. However, in none of these cases were the batsmen able to match Virat’s average of 32.57.
Kohli’s lean run drew so much attention because it was not normal for a player of his class. He has an excellent average in all formats and has scored more than 25,000 runs in all formats at an average of 54.77. Kohli’s drought of centuries was not the worst seen in cricket, but when it comes to converting good starts into milestones, Kohli has been different from every other batter.
2022 saw Virat Kohli ending his century drought
Virat Kohli finally ended his 1020-day drought of not scoring a century in international cricket with a fantastic 122 off just 61 balls against Afghanistan in the super stage of the Asia Cup 2022. India was not able to qualify for the semi-finals of that year’s Asia Cup, and in the last match of the Super Stage, captain Rohit Sharma was rested, so Kohli came to open the batting along with KL Rahul. After giving a brilliant opening to the team, Kohli paced up and went to smash runs, ultimately leading to his hundred.
Virat’s unbeaten 122 consisted of 12 fours and six sixes. That night fans got to see a mix of classy and brutal shots, with a strike rate of 200. In the first two overs of the match, India went without scoring boundaries, then KL and Virat paced up scoring a four each to Fazalhaq Farooqui. Kohli got into the aggressive mode and went on to smash boundaries.
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Kohli looked in great touch and completed his half-century in 32 balls. After him, KL Rahul also completed his 50 runs but got dismissed while pulling a cross-seam ball from Ahmed. However, Kohli continued to play impressively against spin in his innings and hit a six-over deep midwicket against Rashid. After this, he increased his pace by hitting four consecutive fours off Ahmed’s ball and two fours off Farooqui’s ball. After smashing Ahmed down the ground for six in the 19th over, Kohli not only ended his century drought but also brought up his maiden T20 century in 53 balls. That hundred was a much-needed one for someone of Kohli’s caliber. After that innings, Kohli has scored several centuries and currently has 80 hundreds in international cricket.
