Virat Kohli's woeful run of form continues; now without a ton in 19 innings

Image Credits: Twitter/@imVkohli

Indian skipper Virat Kohli's poor show with the bat continued on Friday as he departed cheaply for two runs on the opening day of the first Test of the two-match series against New Zealand at Basin Reserve in Wellington. 

Coming to bat at No.4 spot, the 31-year-old looked to hit debutant Kyle Jamieson's delivery straight past the bowler, but ended up getting an outside edge as sub-fielder Ross Taylor tumbled backward to take the catch at slip and dismiss the Indian batsman. 

Throughout his ongoing tour of New Zealand so far, Kohli has managed to amass just 180 runs--125 runs in four T20Is and 75 runs in three ODIs. His only half-century against the Black Caps came in the opening ODI of the three-match series. 

Notably, Kohli has now gone 19 innings without a century. The Indian skipper last reached the three-figure mark during the side's first-ever day-night Test match against Bangladesh at Eden Gardens in Kolkata, where he smashed a blistering ton of 136 runs.

Meanwhile, the ODI series against New Zealand was by far Kohli's worst bilateral series since his captaincy debut in the format.

However, this is not the first time Kohli has experienced such a horrific form. In his 11-year-long international career, the Indian batsman has failed to notch up a century in more than 19 innings on two occasions. 

From February to September 2011. Kohli failed to reach the three-figure mark in 24 consecutive innings. In 2014, the Indian skipper failed to score a century in 25 innings across formats, including during the tour of England where he managed just 134 runs in five Tests.

Kohli has smashed a total of 27 centuries in 84 Tests and 43 tons in 248 ODIs he played for India so far.