Former Pakistan wicket-keeper Rashid Latif believes that Virat Kohli will soon overcome his lean patch, and that the modern day great be at par with some of game’s greats by the time he retires.
Virat’s long wait for an elusive international hundred has continued after his twin failures with the bat in the recently concluded rescheduled Test against England at Edgbaston. The former India captain registered scores of 11 and 20, as the side suffered a seven-wicket defeat, leaving the series drawn at 2-2.
His last international hundred came back in the pink-ball Test against Bangladesh in Kolkata in November 2019, which now means that he’ll have a gap of more than 1,000 days without a Test hundred. His last ODI ton came against the West Indies at the Queen’s Park Oval in August 2019.
Rashid Latif, who represented Pakistan in 37 Tests and 166 ODIs – including the 1996 and 2003 World Cup, is confident that Kohli will bounce back to form, and talked highly of his significance to the modern game.
“I do believe he will come back. I have some hopes. World cricket needs him. Because of the way he plays,”
he said on the YouTube channel ‘Caught Behind.’
Latif pointed out that Kohli’s intensity hasn’t taken a dip, as was evident at Edgbaston, when the 33-year-old was involved in verbal exchanges with several England players, including Jonny Bairstow, who scored a hundred in both the innings.
“In this very match at Edgbaston, he went and picked up a fight. Pange lete hai full, kabhi Leach se le liya, kabhi Root se le liya (He has a habit of picking on opponent players, once he did that with Leach, then with Root too). So this is a positive sign that he will surely come back.”
“Because he is a team man and he supports his players well. And the way he supports them, there is hope that he will come back.”
Kohli has managed just 827 runs at 27.25 from 18 Tests since the start of 2020 and 702 runs from as many ODIs in the period. The lean patch has resulted in him slipping out of the top 10 in the latest ICC Test Rankings for batsmen for the first time since 2016.
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His strike-rate in the shortest format has been a cause of debate too. In the latest edition of the Indian Premier League, Virat managed 341 runs at 22.73 at a low strike-rate of 116 during Royal Challengers Bangalore’s run to the playoffs. He registered six single digit scores – including three golden ducks – from 16 outings in the competition.
Latif reflected how every player goes through a rough phase during his career. The 53-year-old believes that Kohli would be recognised as one of game’s greats, alongside Sachin Tendulkar and Sir Don Bradman, among others.
“These things happen in every player’s life. When he leaves cricket, his name will be on par with Sachin Tendulkar. Who knows it may be on par with ‘Sir’ Don Bradman.”
Kohli is a part of India’s squad for the second and third T20I against England, and is almost certain to feature in the second game at Edgbaston on July 9. India, on the back of Hardik Pandya’s all-round show, won the series opener by 50 runs in Southampton on Thursday.
