This is no more a secret that Virat Kohli is struggling in Test cricket. He fell for just 13 in the second innings vs Australia in the third Test to complete a total of 35 runs in total in the match at Holkar stadium in Indore. This is not the Kohli that many of his fans know. Series after series, match after match, Kohli has struggled in the last three years. Not to forget, he has not scored a single Test ton in more than 3 years now. His last Test hundred came against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in November 2019. This bad runs needs to be introspected as Kohli has been stuck at 27 Test tons while his contemporaries Joe Root, Steve Smith and Kane Williamson have done much, much better.


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Root has scored 12 Test hundred since 2021. Williamson has scored two while Smith has scored four more. Kohli has none.


Kohli has had a difficult time batting in even the home conditions. In 10 matches and 15 innings since 2021, he has scored just 387 runs with 2 just fifties at a poor average of 25.80. His strike has been 48.80. 




The 34-year-old was struggling last year in white-ball cricket as well but ended the drought of runs with a smashing ton vs Afghanistan at the Asia Cup 2023. He then finished as the leading run-scorer (296 runs) in T20 World Cup the same year. But in Test cricket, Kohli continues to struggle.


His last nine innings playing in Bangladesh and India, read as following: 1, 19*, 23, 1, 12, 44, 20, 22, 13. In these innings, most of his dismissals were against spin. But it is also true that in pace-friendly conditions in England, South Africa, Kohli has not produced any masterclass either. The team management continues to back the out-of-form India star but for how long?