“I won't be surprised in the next couple if games he gets a hundred” – Deep Dasgupta on Virat Kohli’s ton drought

Deep Dasgupta has predicted a hundred for Virat Kohli is just around the corner, backing the Indian skipper to notch up a ton over the next two ODIs against England.

Virat Kohli last scored an international ton in November 2019, notching up 136 in the pink-ball Test against Bangladesh. His century-drought in ODIs is much longer, with Kohli not reaching the three-figure mark since doing so against West Indies in August 2019.

He looked in good touch during the first ODI against England. Virat Kohli scored a run-a-ball half-century. But he uncharacteristically got out on 56 while playing his trademark flick. Speaking on Sports Today, Deep Dasgupta expounded Virat Kohli’s batting form is bound to get him a hundred sooner rather than later.

"The way he was batting, he totally dominated the bowling. Unfortunately, he picked out a fielder. And that was his favourite shot, whipping on his pads that's his favourite shot. It's just a matter of time, I won't be too worried. As long as he is batting well, you know it's around the corner. I won't be surprised in the next couple if games he gets a hundred."

FIFTY! 👍👍@imVkohli notches up his 6⃣1⃣st ODI half-century in 50 balls! 👏👏#TeamIndia captain going strong! 💪💪@Paytm #INDvENG Follow the match 👉 https://t.co/MiuL1livUt pic.twitter.com/RP6h8POfBl

— BCCI (@BCCI) March 23, 2021

Although Virat Kohli has not scored a ton in more than a year, he has rarely looked out of form in that period. Kohli has gone past the 50 mark 16 times since his last three-figure score, but failed to convert his starts into centuries.

Although his Test average of 24 in that period is way lower than normal, it is also down to the few matches he has played over the last year. His average in white-ball cricket, 44.30 in ODIs and a staggering 64.45 in T20Is is proof Virat Kohli is still one of the best out there.

This is the longest Virat Kohli has gone without a ton in his international career. But Deep Dasgupta feels the statistics will not worry Virat Kohli too much, owing to his record in the game.

“I don't think so. Somebody who has scored 43 hundred in this format I don't think he will be worried too much getting a few more. I thought the last game he looked like I thought he was going to get one.”

Records Virat Kohli will break with next international ton

Innings taken to reach 10K Home runs in Internationals : Virat Kohli - 195*Ricky Ponting - 221Sachin Tendulkar - 223 Mahela Jayawardene - 224Kumar Sangakkara - 229Jacques Kallis - 234(Full list)#INDvENG #ViratKohli

— Bharath Pandhiri (@BharathPandhiri) March 23, 2021

Multiple records are waiting to be broken by Virat Kohli as the batsman builds up to his next century in international cricket. A century for Virat Kohli would be his 42nd as India skipper, surpassing Ricky Ponting’s record of 41 tons as Australia captain.

A century would also make him equal Ricky Ponting’s record of 71 international hundreds, with Virat Kohli stuck on 70. It would mean Virat Kohli will then only have Sachin Tendulkar above him in the list of batsmen with most hundreds in international cricket.