WTC Final: "He has had only one low point in his career" - Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli's growth since the 2008 U-19 World Cup

Virat Kohli led India to the under-19 World Cup title in 2008
Virat Kohli led India to the under-19 World Cup title in 2008

Aakash Chopra has pointed out that Virat Kohli has endured just a solitary low point in his illustrious career since leading India to the under-19 World Cup title in 2008.

Team India will face New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC) final in Southampton under Virat Kohli's leadership. Ahead of the title decider, Aakash Chopra spoke about the Indian skipper's career progression in a video shared on his YouTube channel.

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Aakash Chopra highlighted that the 2014 tour of England has been the only lean phase in Virat Kohli's career.

"If we see his career from 2008, he played quite early for India. He has had only one low point in his career, that was the England tour in 2014 where he scored 134 runs in ten innings at an average of 13.4."

The cricketer-turned-commentator lauded Virat Kohli for bouncing back from that nadir and rising to great heights.

"There was a lot of hue and cry to drop him but from there this player started to stage a comeback and changed everything. It seems Virat Kohli has reinvented himself 8-10 times after that and going from strength to strength."

Virat Kohli has amassed 5635 runs at an excellent average of 58.69 in the 62 Tests he has played since the 2014 tour of England.


Aakash Chopra on Virat Kohli's outstanding accomplishments

Virat Kohli is arguably the best batsman in the world across formats
Virat Kohli is arguably the best batsman in the world across formats

Aakash Chopra shared numbers to illustrate Virat Kohli's consistent run throughout his Test career.

"His numbers are extremely good. He scored more than 600 runs every year from 2012 to 2015, nearly 850 runs in one of the years (2014). He scored more than 1000 runs every year between 2016 and 2018. 2019 was a slightly less successful year with 612 runs."

The 43-year-old spoke about Virat Kohli's other accomplishments to further substantiate his point.

"He has an average of around 64 at home and 44 away. Now his average in England has also recovered to around 36. He was the top-ranked Test batsman in 2018 and 2019. He was the No.1 ODI batsman for four consecutive years (2017-20) and best T20I batsman in the world between 2014 and 2016."

Aakash Chopra signed off by stating that Virat Kohli is also the most successful captain in Indian Test history. He will overtake MS Dhoni for the most Tests as an Indian Test skipper when he leads the team in the WTC final.

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