Sunil Gavaskar feels Virat Kohli could have most records in his name when he retires
What’s the story?
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has said that Team India skipper Virat Kohli could have most records in his name when he finishes his international career. Writing in his column for the Times of India, the former opening batsman said the Kohli was currently in the form of his life and his scoring rate has helped the Indian bowlers get enough time to bowl the opposition out twice.
“Virat Kohli continues his run spree, and while his double hundred against Bangladesh will come up for ranking only next week, there is no doubt that the Indian skipper is in the form of his life. The way he is moving into the shots, his balance at the crease, his hunger for big hundreds, indicates that by the time he finishes playing the game, most batting records would be his.
“It is also his rate of scoring that is so good, for that allows the team to pile on the runs quickly and gives his bowling unit that much more time in which to get the 20 opposition wickets,” Gavaskar wrote in his column.
The context
On Friday, Kohli became the first batsman in the history of the game to make four double centuries in four successive Test series, after reaching the 200-run mark against Bangladesh in the one-off Test at Hyderabad.
The right-hander had a sensational 2016, where he made 1215 runs in 12 matches at an average of 60.41 with four centuries and two half-centuries. He also had a staggering year in coloured clothing, where he made 739 runs in 10 ODIs and 641 runs in 15 T20Is for India.
Those exploits played a key role in India having a fruitful time, particularly in Tests, where they remained undefeated under his captaincy and in ODIs, losing just the one series to Australia at the start of the year.
In the shortest format of the game, Kohli was the lynchpin of the Indian batting unit, playing a key role in the side winning the Asia Cup and reaching the semifinals of the World T20 at home, where they lost to the West Indies.
What’s next?
While every player likes to have records in his name, Kohli’s immediate objective would be to excel in the series against Australia, starting later this month and then carry that form into the remainder of the year.
India will not be playing any Tests until July after the Border-Gavaskar series and he will hope that in coloured clothing as well, he can do as well as he did in 2016.
Sportskeeda’s take
While Gavaskar is spot on when he says Kohli is in the form of his life, to say that by the time he finishes his career, he would have the ownership for most records seems a little far-fetched prediction.
Yes, Kohli is among the premier batsmen of the present generation, but he will still need to consistently deliver both with the bat and result wise overseas in order to have the records.