Virat Kohli and the habit of not converting hundreds into big scores

Virat after his hundred today

On Day 3 of the opening test vs Australia, India’s stand-in captain Virat Kohli registered his 7th century in test cricket and effectively led India’s comeback into the Adelaide test. India finished Day 3 at 369-5, still trailing the Aussies by 148 runs. However, with 2 days still remaining, this game is tantalizingly poised.

Virat looked in great touch right throughout his innings despite having a rough start when he was hit on his helmet off the very first delivery he faced. He was involved in 3 crucial partnerships of 81, 101 and 74 with Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma respectively.

However, his good innings came to an end towards the fag end of the day when Mitch Johnson bounced him out while he was batting on 115.

Kohli’s centuries in Tests

The 26 year old has scored 7 test centuries so far. Off his 7 hundreds, 3 have come against the Aussies, a couple against the Kiwis and one each versus the Proteas and the Poms. 4 out of his 7 tons have come away from home. He also loves getting to his hundred in style as he has gotten to 5 of his 7 hundreds by scoring a boundary.

However, the most interesting stat is that inspite of scoring 7 hundreds, the highest score that he has registered is 119. What adds to the surprise is the fact that his highest score in one days, where there is a paucity of time as compared to tests, is a staggering 183. Infact, in ODI’s he has gone past the score of 125 on 6 occasions. In tests, however, he is yet to register a score in excess of even 120.

Manner of dismissals

Off the 7 instances that the RCB skipper has scored a ton, he has remained unbeaten once. Thrice he has been dismissed leg before wicket and thrice he has been out caught. Now that we know the mode of dismissal, let’s take a look at the deliveries that got the Delhi batsman:

1. 116 vs Australia, lbw b Ben Hilfenhaus

It was a low full toss that was angling in. Virat swung across the line and was caught right in front of the stumps.

2. 103 vs New Zealand, lbw b Tim Southee

On this instance, Kohli made a horrible misjudgement as he just shouldered arms to a delivery that was coming in after pitching on good length.

3. 103 vs England, lbw b Graeme Swann

Soon after the drinks interval, VK was caught in front of leg stump to an off break bowled by Swann from around the wicket.

4. 107 vs Australia, c Starc b Lyon

Lyon tossed this one up and Kohli could not resist the temptation of going after it and was caught at mid on.

5. 119 vs South Africa, c Duminy b Kallis

The slower delivery from Kallis did the trick as Virat mistimed his drive to Duminy at cover

6. 115 vs Australia, c Harris b Johnson

Back of a length delivery that just hurried onto the Indian skipper as he mistimed his pull to Ryan Harris.

Build up to the dismissals

Having had a look at the mode of each dismissal, let’s take a look at the build up to each of the dismissals:

1. 116 vs Australia

Having reached his hundred, Kohli put his foot on the gas as he knew that with a wicket in hand, India were still a good 365 runs away from the Aussie total. He got his next 15 runs off 13 deliveries that included 3 boundaries.

2. 103 vs New Zealand

After reaching his personal landmark, Virat was playing very watchfully having left 3 of the 5 deliveries he faced thereafter.

3. 103 vs England

VK reached his century off the bowling of Swann with a boundary. Thereafter, he played out 3 dots off Swann’s bowling before being scalped by Swann himself off the very first ball after the drinks interval

4. 107 vs Australia

Kohli was batting at run a ball before getting lured in by a tossed up delivery from Nathan Lyon

5. 119 vs South Africa

Virat was batting at a steady pace as he collected his next 19 runs off 37 balls wherein he punished the bad deliveries but showed respect for the good ones.

6. 115 vs Australia

Another case of steady batting from the stand-in Indian skipper before getting dismissed almost against the run of play.

What the dismissals and the build up to them suggest

One thing that comes out of this is that Virat gets dismissed either when he is looking to play his strokes or when he is a little too circumspect. Getting to a hundred certainly gives a batsman both the liberty and the confidence to go for his strokes. However, that often gives the opposition a chance to pick up a wicket as it is likely that the batsman may offer a chance or two.

Kohli being a natural strokemaker, obviously prefers going for his shots. That is precisely the reason why he has gotten out when he’s been too cautious. Whenever, he has gone into a shell, he hasn’t put the bad balls away and that has really allowed the bowlers to develop a stranglehold over him.

This leads to him getting frustrated and going hard after the looseners as seen in the case of his dismissal vs South Africa. Rather than going for either of the two extremes, a middle way is what’ll suit Kohli better wherein he is looking to rotate the stike and put away the bad balls while showing respect for the good ones.

Kohli’s second test hundred powered India to a win vs New Zealand

Importance of Kohli’s hundreds and what if they were big ones

Each of the RCB skipper’s 7 hundreds have come in match situations where India were in some sort of trouble. 4 of his hundreds have come in draws, a couple in victories and 1 in a loss.

One cannot help but imagine the fate of those 4 drawn games had Kohli stayed on and gone on to make a big score. Given the type of fluent strokemaker that he is, he would have certainly powered India to a position of strength in real quick time.

Conclusion

Well, if India’s future skipper wants a lesson on how to build on a test hundred, he does not have to look too far. His teammate Cheteshwar Pujara can offer him some real good advise on the matter.

Off his 6 test centuries, the Saurashtra batsman has gone past 150 on 4 occassions, 2 of which have been double tons. Infact, Pujara’s lowest score after getting to a hundred is 113, which interestingly is a mere 6 runs shy of Kohli’s best score in test cricket.

Scoring a test century is no mean feat. However, it will do both Virat Kohli and Team India a world of good if he were to build on them and get some big scores.