“He has only had one international hundred in India” - When Gautam Gambhir defended Virat Kohli ahead of ENG vs IND 2018 Tests

Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir was outspoken about ace batter Virat Kohli during his time as a commentator. One such instance saw him defend the then-Indian captain for his struggles in England in 2014 ahead of the 2018 tour.

Kohli endured a dismal five-Test series in England in 2014, averaging only 13.40 with no half-centuries in 10 innings. Despite conquering the format since that series, questions about his ability to counter the challenging English pitches remained unanswered.

Talking about the same ahead of the 2018 England tour, Gambhir told Cricbuzz (via Times Now):

"Someone like Ricky Ponting! He has only hand one international hundred in India and people still call him a legend. You can't define someone if he has had just one bad tour. He (Kohli) has already proved himself in different conditions, so he should not be thinking on the lines that he has to prove something on the English tour."

Gambhir added:

"He has to be himself, not because he is the captain but because he is a world class batter and at the same time he is someone India expect a lot of runs from. He can't put additional pressure on himself thinking that the last tour of England wasn't great. Important thing is that he has already proved himself to the world and is probably one of the top three batters in the world."

Kohli's struggles in 2014 played a massive role in India's 1-3 Test series defeat in England.

How did Virat Kohli perform in the 2018 England Test tour?

Virat Kohli silenced his doubters with a stellar showing in 2018 [Credit: Getty]

Virat Kohli enjoyed arguably his best Test series with the bat in India's 2018 tour of England. The 36-year-old immediately silenced critics with a spectacular 149 in the first innings of the opening Test at Edgbaston.

He followed that with a defiant half-century in the second innings despite India losing the contest. Kohli endured a silent outing in the second Test at Lord's as India fell 0-2 behind in the five-match affair.

However, he returned to his best in the third Test at Nottingham with 97 and 103 in India's lone win in the series. Despite three 40+ scores in the final four innings of the series, India lost both Tests to suffer a 1-4 series defeat.

Nevertheless, Kohli finished as the leading run-scorer from both teams, with 593 runs at an average of 59.30.