Virat Kohli will play his 100th Test match when India faces off against Sri Lanka on March 4.
Sunil Gavaskar, former India captain, believes that Virat Kohli will perform better with the bat in the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka, and that the former skipper was never burdened by captaincy. On March 4, India will play Sri Lanka in the first match of the series in Mohali.
During a Star Sports discussion, Gavaskar joked that Kohli showed no signs of struggling with the captaincy as he racked up runs at will.
"Kohli, when he was captain, he showed that there were no effects of the burden of captaincy. He was reeling off hundreds just every other innings. So don't think captaincy was ever a burden on him."
Ex-Indian opener Gavaskar, on the other hand, did mention that Kohli needs to improve in a few areas.
"As a captain what happens is that you are concerned about everybody else. It's just a natural thing, you are concerned about your bowlers' forms, maybe there is a slight niggle injury, as a batting unit maybe your No.4 or No.5 are not getting the runs, getting out badly.
"So, you might be scoring runs yourselves as a captain but you are always concerned about everybody else in the team. That is where you can't focus on your batting. As not a captain, you can focus entirely on your batting. That is the biggest advantage that you can have.
“But now I think it's a question of him getting used to the fact that he is not calling the shots. As long as he is delivering the shots with the bat, nothing else is mattering,” elaborated cricketer-turned-broadcaster Gavaskar.
Meanwhile. At the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali, Kohli is preparing for his 100th Test. Kohli scored 5864 runs in 68 Tests as captain of the Indian Test team, averaging 54.80.