The benchmark is a lot higher for a player of his class – Deep Dasgupta on Virat Kohli

Former India wicketkeeper batter Deep Dasgupta believes that Virat Kohli must score a century sooner rather than later. He opined that the standards for a player of Kohli’s caliber are higher than most others. Fifties are just not sufficient for his prolonged class.

Kohli has looked in excellent touch with the bat in India’s ongoing series against England. He has scored two fifties and two forties across four Tests but has failed to convert the starts to a big score.

In a discussion on BBC’s Test Match Special podcast, Deep Dasgupta stated that the benchmark for players like Virat Kohli is much higher than mere mortals.

“I think he needs a hundred. A player of his class and the kind of runs he has scored, the performances that he has had. I think, for them, the benchmark is a lot higher than mere mortals. Obviously, for him, the benchmark would be a hundred. It’s not just about getting fifties and all. We are talking about Virat Kohli here.”

The Indian captain will have an opportunity to sign the series off with a century when the action moves on to Manchester for the final Test.

Virat Kohli has endured a long run without reaching the three-figure mark now. The last century the 32-year-old made across all the formats of the game was against Bangladesh in November 2019 when he scored 136 in the first-ever pink-ball test match in India held at Kolkata.

Kohli has scored five fifties in the ensuing 22 months but failed to convert even one of those into a century. He had one of the best conversion rates until that point with 27 centuries and 22 fifties. However, since the last couple of years, it has been a different story. Also, what tortures his fans across the globe is that he plays a few classy cover drives, looks in good touch, gives you a feeling that today is the day when the “century drought” will end. But then he suddenly ends up losing his wicket to a ball that is not even worthy enough to earn a wicket of a batsman of Virat Kohli’s caliber.

There is plenty of time before India plays Test cricket again after the series against England. Hence, Virat Kohli would love to end the century drought before the end of the current series.