Former Indian opener Navjot Singh Sidhu has backed Virat Kohli to score another 10-15 centuries at the International level. Kohli scored an unbeaten hundred against arch-rivals Pakistan at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday and helped India register a six-wicket win.
This was Kohli’s 82nd International century across formats and his 51st in ODI cricket. The right-hander was able to hit the running against Pakistan as he looked at his sublime best. Kohli scored seven fours in his knock and scored the lion share’s of his runs in singles and doubles.
The talisman has been under the pump for his ordinary form in the recent past but he was able to bring his best against Pakistan when it mattered the most. He also became the fastest batter to score 14000 ODI runs, getting to the milestone in 287 innings.
Navjot Sidhu said on Star Sports, “After this hundred, I can say it with conviction, he will play for the next 2 or 3 years and he is getting another 10 or 15 hundreds. That you can take it from me.”
“You must understand the value that he brings to international cricket. 99 innings, an average of 89.6 in successful chases, that means that, you know, he handles pressure. He does not allow pressure to affect him and the tougher it gets, the more he thrives in that that’s the hallmark of a great.”
Sidhu noted that Kohli was at his previous best against Pakistan when he got his head over the ball and played the cover-drive with his typical panache.
“If I look at Sachin Tendulkar, it was always the backfoot punch that he would give, with those 10 grips on the bat. Look at Gavaskar, the straight drive and you look at Virat Kohli, and when he gets his head on top of the ball and he’s cover driving beautifully, you know he’s back. You know he’s back,” Sidhu said in the same discussion.
“If you look at the initial part of his innings, if you look at these drives. You know that this is the Virat Kohli, and to me it’s not Virat Kohli scored runs, it’s the character that he exhibited when, when everybody was criticising him. That’s when someone should hold his fort and say, I’m coming back.”
India will next take on New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on 2nd March.
