Virat Kohli will be disappointed after missing out on his 100: Sunil Gavaskar
Former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has remarked that Virat Kohli will be disappointed after missing out on a century in the second ODI against England in Pune.
The Indian skipper put in all the hard yards as he marched his way to 66 runs, but failed to convert it into a hundred.
Given that he got a reprieve earlier in the innings when he was dropped by Jos Buttler in the 22nd over, Virat Kohli was expected to make the most of that opportunity.
Sunil Gavaskar seemed surprised that a batsman of Virat Kohli's caliber failed to convert a 60-odd score into a century. Speaking about the same to Star Sports, he said:
"Well, he will be disappointed. Disappointed to the extent that when you're batting so well, you have got and done all the hard work, you have got to 60. Batsman of that caliber, of that greatness, always go on to get 3-figure innings. But he hasn't been able to quite get that."
Gavaskar, though, mentioned that Virat Kohli's contributions to the team's cause would keep him satisfied. Virat Kohli came into bat when the team lost two quick wickets and built a 121-run partnership with KL Rahul.
"At the same time, he will be happy with the fact that he is building a partnership. He is making sure that England despite getting the early wickets is not getting through to the rest of the line-up. And he is helping the team get a platform from which the likes of Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya can play the big shots and get India past 300. So he is making his contribution as a batsman," Gavaskar added.
Virat Kohli's century drought in international cricket
Virat Kohli last scored an international century in November 2019 against Bangladesh in a Test match. His last ODI century came against West Indies in August 2019.
After some struggles with his form during the Test series against England, the 32-year-old bounced back in the T20Is. Even in the first ODI, Kohli mustered a well-made 56, but couldn't go on to make it big.
"No question about it but yes there will just be that little bit of disappointment. Every batsman has that. If you get out for 5, 6, 7 in the early stages you can't do much. But when you've done all the hard work, you have got fifty sixty, every batsman wants to get to a hundred and great batsman want to get a big hundred. And he is not getting it so he will be just a little bit disappointed for sure," Gavaskar said.
Virat Kohli has registered 70 international centuries so far in his career, and is one short of Ricky Ponting's tally.