Virat Kohli hasn’t had the ideal beginning to the 10-Test marathon that India is about to undergo in the next four months, failing in both the innings of the first match against Bangladesh at home in Chennai. The issue has once again fanned the fires of the debate that had arisen over the age of the batting great and former Australia spinner Brad Hogg has stuck his neck out to assert that Kohli cannot surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s record.
In fact, he shared in the video that Virat Kohli should retire just like how Sachin Tendulkar did after a comparison with Joe Root and Tendulkar as root only seems to be featuring the group of players pushing for the highest run scorers in Test matches in the World who has scored a total of 15 921 runs during his 200 Test career added more. However, he noted that Kohli has lost steam.
With 12,402 runs in 146 Test matches completed so far, the 33-year-old Williams is behind Tendulkar by 3519 runs. Kohli, who will be hitting 36 years of age come November, has a total of 8871 runs in 114 test matches.
Hogg said, “Virat, no, I just don’t think he’s going to get there.” “That part of his career — and it’s been a number of years now — I think he’s lost that momentum. In the next ten Test matches, he needs to turn around, or else he is going to drop off.”
The Robinson v Kohli comparison in the year 2024 brings out the differences in their form. This year, Virat Kohli has participated in and batted in 17 innings in 15 matches across formats and has scored 319 runs at an average of 18.76 with a single fifty to his name. In stark contrast, Root scored a total of 986 runs in 20 test innings this year at an average of 54.77, with 4 centuries and 4 fifties.
“Hence, Joe Root has (played) 146 Test matches and has scored 12,000 (12402) runs. Sachin Tendulkar scored almost 16,000 (15,921 runs in 200 Test matches. That’s 4000 runs from 66 test matches.I think Joe Root is capable of coming very close to breaking that,” said Hogg.
“Je vous le dis, watch out: Joe Root is on the move to overtake Sachin Tendulkar. I think quietly he’ll have in the back of his mind to try and topple that little unique statistic.”
It is since 2020 that the decline in Virat Kohli’s Test form has considerable impact. Between 2020 and 2024, over a span of 30 Tests and 52 Test innings, Kohli scored only 1669 runs at an average of 32.72, including, 2 hundreds and 8 fifties.
