Gautam Gambhir, India head coach, spoke about Virat Kohli’s recent struggle with the bat in Tests. Kohli has made only one fifty, a 76 against South Africa at Centurion in December 2023, in his last eight innings.

Kohli’s form will be crucial for India as they prep to face New Zealand in s series of three Tests starting October 16. India head coach Gautam Gambhir is not too concerned about the recent lukewarm form of Virat Kohli, insisting that the star batter remains as hungry as he was when he made his debut.

"See, my thoughts about Virat have always been very clear that he is a world-class cricketer. He has performed for such a long period of time. He is as hungry as when he made his debut. To now, his hunger is always there. That hunger is what makes him a world-class cricketer. I am sure that he will be hungry to get runs in this series and probably moving forward to Australia as well,” Gambhir told reporters here on Monday.

Gambhir said the prolific batter, once he gets into "those runs-scoring phases", is remarkably consistent.

"So, I am sure that he will be looking for these three Test matches in the series and then to Australia. You don't keep judging people after every game. If you keep judging people after every game, that's not fair to them. It's a sport and people are bound to fail.

But more importantly, I think if we can get the results, if people are doing what is needed of them to get the results in our favor, that is fine," he noted.

Gambhir stated that he must support the players and keep them motivated for success, especially during a long season with India expected to play eight more Test matches.

"Everyone doesn't have the best days every day. I think the kind of vibe we have is we keep backing our players. My job is to keep backing the players. My job is to keep selecting the best playing 11, not dropping anyone.

I'm sure everyone is hungry and they know there are eight Test matches in a row. So, this is probably the start of them looking at eight Test matches in a row and performing well," said Gambhir.

(PTI inputs)