Virat Kohli, India’s red-ball captain has gone century-less in the second consecutive year which has happened for the first time since his international cricket debut.
In his latest inning versus South Africa on Wednesday, Kohli was dismissed for 18 runs in the first Test of the series going on at SuperSport Park Cricket Stadium.
Consequently, Kohli ends another century-less year with 536 runs at 28.21 including four fifties in the calendar year.
His last international century came in November 2019 against Bangladesh that was his 70th international century. Since then, he has been struggling to score big and turning his double-figure score into the triple-figure.
The 33-year old saw 2017 and 2018 as the peak years of his career. The red-ball Indian skipper scored 11 centuries in each year, whereas, slammed seven centuries in 2019. However, 2020 and 2021 have let fans anticipate Kohli’s centuries.
Social media posts have been nothing but bashes for Kohli for not scoring a single international century in two years. Have a look at a few posts:
If Virat Kohli does not Score 145 runs in the Next two Test matches, then his Test Batting Average will fall below 50.
— CricketMAN2 (@man4_cricket) December 29, 2021
60 Innings completed without Century for Virat Kohli in International Cricket.
— CricketMAN2 (@man4_cricket) December 29, 2021
768 days since Virat Kohli's last century in international cricket #SAvIND #Cricket
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) December 29, 2021
60 inns without an International century for Kohli, last Int'l century was against Bangladesh without Shakib & Mustafizur, in India on 23rd November 2019. Kohli's Test batting average since 1st January 2020 is 26.08 in 14 Tests. The most over-rated cricketer ever. #Cricket
— Daniel Alexander (@daniel86cricket) December 29, 2021
Notably, Kohli stepped up from T20I captaincy informing the Board of Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) about his decision before the ICC T20 World Cup 2021. The marquee event was his last task as an ODI skipper.
Later, the BCCI selectors find it inappropriate to have two separate captains for limited-over captainship, hence, Sharma was chosen whilst Kohli was sacked from ODI captainship as well.
As Ind vs SA ODI series will progress from 19th January, it will be Sharma’s first task as an ODI skipper. Kohli is left with the red-ball leading solely.
Also, see:
How cricketers celebrated Christmas 2021?
