Sourav Ganguly feels Virat Kohli will be motivated to prove himself once again.© AFP
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has opened up on star batter Virat Kohli‘s recent slump in form. Kohli arrived in Australia on the back of a disastrous home series against New Zealand, where he managed just 93 runs as India were clean swept in their own backyard. Incidentally, Kohli has not scored a century in SENA countries since the 2018 Perth Test against Australia. Speaking ahead of the 1st Test, Ganguly feels Kohli will be motivated to prove himself once again as he has a reputation to keep.
“I never rule great players out. He hasn’t had the best of times in Test matches (recently). He arrived in Australia early. He is hungry and knows that he has a reputation to keep. He will be playing on good pitches. He has 6 hundreds in 13 Tests in Australia. I know that was four or five years ago, it was a young Virat Kohli. He is ageing now,” Ganguly said on Club Prairie Fire podcast.
Ganguly recalled the time when his former teammate Rahul Dravid went through a similar slump, where he did not score a single century outside India for four years before touring England in 2011. Ganguly highlighted that Dravid, who was promoted to open the batting during that series, went on to score four centuries in as many games.
“I remember the case with Rahul Dravid. He did not score an overseason century between 2007 and 2011. However, he went to England in 2011 and got four hundreds in four games. I was on comms and asked him ‘mate, how long are you gonna play.’ He told me ‘I still feel i can do it’. He opened during that series, if your remember,” he added.
Kohli played just one Test during the last trip to Australia in 2019 before returning home for the birth of his first child. He was the captain back then. However, Ajinkya Rahna led India to second straight Test series win in Australia, having led the team for the last three games.
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