Virat Kohli vs VVS Laxman

[Coronis]

I still believe Kohli needs just one big score in tests and runs will flow. He’s too good a batsman to be considered “done” this early.

People do always overreact a bit to slumps it seems. Of course Kohli’s was fairly extended, but I’m hoping this kickstarts a bit of a renaissance for him. Despite being a **** bloke he’s a quality batsman.

 

[Ali TT]

Is he GOAT again?

I'm interested by some of the averages comparisons, eg if Kohli was 53-55 he'd be Gavaskar/Dravid level. How much more than Tendulkar's 53 would Kohli have to be in order to be considered as good as him?

 

[Sunil1z]

Is he GOAT again?

I'm interested by some of the averages comparisons, eg if Kohli was 53-55 he'd be Gavaskar/Dravid level. How much more than Tendulkar's 53 would Kohli have to be in order to be considered as good as him?

He needs to get his average to above 50 first for consideration.

 

[Ali TT]

He needs to get his average to above 50 first for consideration.

Well yes, but theoretically (as it was others, not me, making the comparisons to SG and RD)

 

[Coronis]

Is he GOAT again?

I'm interested by some of the averages comparisons, eg if Kohli was 53-55 he'd be Gavaskar/Dravid level. How much more than Tendulkar's 53 would Kohli have to be in order to be considered as good as him?

He was never GOAT even excluding Bradman, and he never will be. He needs some more quality overseas series to be rated higher imo, similar to Kane. He’d need more than a few extraordinary series to end up over Dravid and Gavaskar.

 

[Ray.]

He was never GOAT even excluding Bradman, and he never will be. He needs some more quality overseas series to be rated higher imo, similar to Kane. He’d need more than a few extraordinary series to end up over Dravid and Gavaskar.

He has 4 already? NZ, Aus, Saf, England?

 

[Ray.]

People do always overreact a bit to slumps it seems. Of course Kohli’s was fairly extended, but I’m hoping this kickstarts a bit of a renaissance for him. Despite being a **** bloke he’s a quality batsman.

Yup. Still think he has a good 2-3 years in him. If he goes on a root like run after this, could still see him averaging 52+ with 10k but still bit far fetched right now.

 

[Ali TT]

Of the 4, I'd probably rate Kane and Smith the highest but it'd be Kohli or Root I'd want to watch score a hundred. Kane seems to be the nicest guy of them, Kohli and Smith outwardly dislikeable, Root a **** being closed doors.

 

[PaulLennon]

He has 4 already? NZ, Aus, Saf, England?

SA 2014, NZ 2014, Aus 2014, SA 2018, Eng 2018, Aus 2018

 

[Kenneth Viljoen]

Of the 4, I'd probably rate Kane and Smith the highest but it'd be Kohli or Root I'd want to watch score a hundred. Kane seems to be the nicest guy of them, Kohli and Smith outwardly dislikeable, Root a **** being closed doors.

Williamson doesn't have a great record in England, India , South Africa and Sri Lanka ..

 

[honestbharani]

It is stil too early to make any final calls IMO. But the worrying thing about Virat is this innings was pretty much his regular innings, except that he hung around longer and got through his 40s to 60s slowdown mostly coz it was still a flat deck. (odd one misbehaving more often notwithstanding).
Still feel his issues around backfoot play against fast bowlers for good length and even short of good length bowling outside off and his tendency to be tied down by accurate bowling into his legs by spinners are a major concern, especially since, as a rule, India seem to play in the bowlingest pitches most of the time, by choice at home as well.

 

[Raz0r6ack]

If India were smart they would make more flat decks for Kohli to score runs on. Fans were literally chanting his name during that Pujara DRS. If Kohli was to keep failing and get dropped then it seems (from the outside looking in) it would be a massive hit to the appeal of Test cricket in India.

 

[Chrish]

India should never lay down flat decks. Wicket like the one in 4th test, would be a huge mistake against team like England.

Pink ball on Narendra Modi stadium all the way..

 

[Kirkut]

Kohli, but Laxman is better to watch.

 

[Spark]

It is stil too early to make any final calls IMO. But the worrying thing about Virat is this innings was pretty much his regular innings, except that he hung around longer and got through his 40s to 60s slowdown mostly coz it was still a flat deck. (odd one misbehaving more often notwithstanding).
Still feel his issues around backfoot play against fast bowlers for good length and even short of good length bowling outside off and his tendency to be tied down by accurate bowling into his legs by spinners are a major concern, especially since, as a rule, India seem to play in the bowlingest pitches most of the time, by choice at home as well.

The curious thing is that this actually isn't all that different to the issues which have developed in Smith's batting in recent years as well, though obviously he hasn't had a slump anywhere near as bad as Kohli's - he's also had much more difficulty setting the tempo against high quality fast bowling and found it hard to avoid getting shackled by back of the length fast bowling that used to be his bread and butter. It could just be an inescapable part of the aging process for batsmen of that calibre.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

He has 4 already? NZ, Aus, Saf, England?

He got a meaningless 100 in the BMac 302 game, but otherwise has done very little in NZ.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Williamson doesn't have a great record in England, India , South Africa and Sri Lanka ..

That's the trouble with 2 match series. It often takes 2 tests to get to grips with conditions and then you leave.

 

[Sunil1z]

That's the trouble with 2 match series. It often takes 2 tests to get to grips with conditions and then you leave.

And the same thing doesn’t apply to Kohli in NZ ? ?

 

[Fuller Pilch]

And the same thing doesn’t apply to Kohli in NZ ? ?

Okay, you got me there. Stop using logic.

 

[honestbharani]

The curious thing is that this actually isn't all that different to the issues which have developed in Smith's batting in recent years as well, though obviously he hasn't had a slump anywhere near as bad as Kohli's - he's also had much more difficulty setting the tempo against high quality fast bowling and found it hard to avoid getting shackled by back of the length fast bowling that used to be his bread and butter. It could just be an inescapable part of the aging process for batsmen of that caliber.

True but the annoying thing is, as I have often pointed out here, Virat used to be able to play those shots before. He just shut those shots down himself to avoid risk in his batting around 2016 and now it is coming back to bite him as he seems to be unable to play those shots naturally. The only hope (and it's a very very slim one) is that his LO game and especially the IPL helps him rediscover those shots and gets him to go back to those shots even in tests.