Kohli last scored a century against Bangladesh in the pink ball Test in Kolkata in November 2019.
Bangalore, Virat Kohli, who could not score a century in international cricket for the last 28 months, played against Sri Lanka on Saturday (India vs Sri Lanka 2nd Test Match) in the second Test played with pink ball. When he enters the IPL field, his eyes will be on his bat. Kohli last scored a century against Bangladesh in the pink ball Test in Kolkata in November 2019.
He scored 136 runs in that innings. Since then the Indian captain has played 28 innings but could not score a Test century. He scored 50-plus six times and the highest score was 79 against South Africa in January this year. He is now returning to the M Chinnaswamy Stadium where his team Royal Challengers Bangalore plays IPL. They will also get the benefit of being familiar with the field.
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Kohli, who has made his mark in world cricket, has a lot of expectations from him whenever he walks on the field. Kohli, who is going through the most challenging phase of his career on and off the field, has put pressure on him after he was dropped from the BCCI and then removed from the captaincy of the ODI team. In the face of Sri Lanka’s weak bowling attack, however, he can remove the silence of the bat on the ground he wants. He had started well in the Mohali Test too but could not convert it into big innings. It’s not that he can’t play well.
He is hitting the ball well but the fluent manner in which he plays is not visible and at times his concentration is also getting disturbed. Tired schedule can also be a reason for this and increasing age can also be a reason. Controversies outside the cricket field have also affected his performance. In the pink ball Test, pacer Mohammad Siraj or fit-returned all-rounder Axar Patel could be brought in in place of Jayant Yadav in the playing XI.
Jayant could not do anything special in Mohali. Despite the poor condition of the Sri Lankan innings, he could not take any wicket in both the innings. Akshar last took 11 wickets in a pink ball Test against England in Ahmedabad. He also opened the bowling in the second innings. Well, if there is grass on the pitch, Siraj will be a better option. There is little hope of further changes in the team but it remains to be seen whether Hanuma Vihari gets a chance again at number three.
Captain Rohit Sharma has said that it is not yet decided in which order Vihari will land. Sri Lankan team, on the other hand, has already proved to be nineteen in every respect before India and will also miss fast bowler Lahiru Kumara who is out with a hamstring injury. Dushmanta Chamira can replace him in the playing XI. Captain Dimuth Karunaratne will have to lead from the front so that he does not suffer an embarrassing defeat like in the first match.
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Even better performance will be expected from the experienced Angelo Mathews. In his last series, only fast bowler Tunnel Lakmal could bowl at an economy rate of less than four. The rest of the bowlers proved to be very expensive. This is the last Test for the Indian team on their soil in 2022. Seven more Tests are to be played in the current World Test Championship cycle.
The team will go to Bangladesh to play two Test matches and then the Australian team will come in 2023 for four Tests. There is also one remaining Test to be played on the England tour. India will have to win all these matches to make it to the World Test Championship final.
Teams :
Bharat: Rohit Sharma (c), Mayank Agarwal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hanuma Vihari, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Mohammad Siraj, Jayant Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Kona India (wk) , Umesh Yadav, Saurabh Kumar, Priyank Panchal
Sri Lanka: Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), Dhananjay D’Silva, Charit Aslanka, Dushmantha Chamira, Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella, Lasith Embuldeniya, Vishwa Fernando, Suranga Lakhmal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Lahiru Kumara, Kusal Mendis, Pathum Jayavisandarka, Jefri Jayavisandarka, and Lasith Embuldeniya , Chamika Karunaratne. (agency)