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Virat Kohli's Recent Struggles: Ex-Opener Analyzes His Performance Compared to Steve Smith
24 days ago | 5 Views
Steve Smith achieved his 36th Test century, leading a commanding performance by Australia in the first match of the two-match series against Sri Lanka, alongside Usman Khawaja. During this inning, Smith became the fourth Australian cricketer to surpass 10,000 runs in Test cricket. He was eventually dismissed for 141 runs off 251 balls, concluding the innings with a career total of 10,140 runs at an average of 56.33 across 115 Tests.
Aakash Chopra, a former Indian opener, highlighted that Smith now holds five more centuries than Virat Kohli, despite Kohli having played five additional innings in his career. "Smith has achieved a century against Sri Lanka, marking his 35th in just 205 innings. In comparison, Joe Root has also scored 36 centuries but has done so in 278 innings. Therefore, when evaluating the strike rate and the number of innings required to reach a century, Steve Smith surpasses Joe Root," Chopra remarked on his YouTube channel.
Chopra noted that Kohli's performance in Test cricket has declined over the past five years, causing him to lag behind his contemporaries, including Smith, England's Joe Root, and New Zealand's Kane Williamson. He pointed out that Williamson has a superior frequency of centuries compared to both Root and Smith. "Kane Williamson has achieved 33 centuries in only 186 innings, demonstrating a better strike rate than the other two," he stated.
"Looking at Virat Kohli, he has played 210 innings, which is five more than Steve Smith, yet he has five fewer centuries. Unfortunately, Kohli now possesses the lowest strike rate among them, having scored only three centuries in the last five years," Chopra concluded.
Virat Kohli returns to Ranji Trophy
Kohli is presently competing for Delhi in their concluding Ranji Trophy group stage match against Railways at the Feroz Shah Kotla. This marks Kohli's first participation in the Ranji Trophy since 2012, following a notably challenging performance in the 2024/25 Test season, where he accumulated only 382 runs across 19 innings, resulting in a disappointing average of 22.47. His struggles in red-ball cricket are particularly surprising given his impressive finish to his T20 career, highlighted by a match-winning performance in the 2024 T20 World Cup final and record-breaking achievements during the 2023 World Cup.
Previously, former cricketer Mohammed Kaif, who played for the Uttar Pradesh team that faced Delhi in Kohli's last Ranji Trophy appearance, expressed that Kohli's return to the tournament is a positive development for all. He hopes that Kohli can secure a few solid innings before the 2025 Champions Trophy. "His participation in the Ranji Trophy is advantageous for everyone involved. It provides him with practice, the opportunity to score runs, and ultimately benefits India. I sincerely hope he finds form and that his bat performs as effectively in the Champions Trophy as it did during the 2023 World Cup," remarked Kaif.
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