Indian captain Virat Kohli made his debut in the five-day format a decade ago in 2011. Since then, Kohli has amassed over 7000 runs in the longest format of the game.
During this era, the Indian skipper has established himself as arguably the best batsman while leading the Indian cricket team to numerous victories as well.
However, the Kohli-led side failed to register a win over New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. The 32-year-old did well with his bat in the first innings, but couldn’t replicate the same performance in the second.
What makes Virat Kohli stand out?
Former Indian All-Rounder joined Star sports for an interview after India’s defeat in the WTC final. During the interview, Bangar talked about why Virat Kohli is a notch above the rest of the players.
“Virat Kohli has already scored close to 7,500 test runs, and this is a format, where he just simply gives it his all. It’s not that he doesn’t value T20 or ODI cricket; he plays with equal intensity, but the job satisfaction that he derives – because this is the toughest format. And in modern times, because there are no dead rubbers, so every Test match is valued, and every team is playing for a result,” Bangar said in the interview.
Bangar continued to heap praise on Kohli, “This means that whatever is on offer – from a batting perspective – is always challenging for the batsman. So, to excel in each & every Test match, and obviously, to get over the drought of the three-figure – which may have been playing on his mind – I think this is something that he would look ahead to,” he added.
Kohli scored 44 runs in the first innings against NZ and was looking in terrific touch. However, he failed to convert the good start into a long inning. And in the second innings, the Kiwis never let the run machine get into any kind of rhythm.
if Kohli had reached three figures against the black caps, the result might have been different.
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