NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli‘s recent return to Test cricket against Bangladesh didn’t go down quite well as the star India batter could only manage scores of 6 and 17 in the two innings.
Kohli, who missed the England series earlier this year, was making a return after the January Test he played against South Africa in Cape Town.
And against Bangladesh, Kohli wasn’t the best version of himself and didn’t look as threatening as the visitors were expecting him to be.
Former Pakistan cricketer Basit Ali recently said that Kohli’s low scores against Bangladesh aren’t a sign of worry for the Indian team and the middle-order batter will be back at his best in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Basit said that big players like Kohli perform against big teams and when India travel Down Under towards the end of the year, Kohli will regain his form.
“Sab khush hote rahe Bangladesh aur New Zealand wale match mein, Virat shuru hoga Australia se (Let people be happy with how he is performing against Bangladesh, Virat will return to form against Australia). He will like the pacy wickets in Australia. Big players often lose concentration against weak teams but they do well against tougher oppositions,” Ali said on his YouTube channel.
“People say India win at home but they have won two series in Australia as well. India won’t allow Australia to win the Border-Gavaskar Trophy later this year as well.”
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After the T20 World Cup triumph, Kohli played three ODIs in Sri Lanka where managed scores of 24, 20 and 20. The Indian team had lost the Lanka ODI series 2-0.
In the Test against Bangladesh, despite a no show from Kohli, India secured a big 280-run win and took a 1-0 lead in the 2-match series.
The second India vs Bangladesh Test will be played from September 27 in Kanpur.