India stalwart Virat Kohli has been facing criticism for his inconsistent form with the bat recently, but he has now received support from one of his childhood heroes. Kohli, who has struggled with an average of just 25 in Test cricket in 2024, has been encouraged by former South African batter Herschelle Gibbs, whom Kohli had named as one of his idols during his U19 days. Gibbs believes Kohli should not be written off just yet.
“He scored a Test hundred just a couple of weeks ago. You don’t suddenly become a bad player in such a short time. It was only three weeks ago when he scored a hundred,” Gibbs said in an interview with Inside Sport. “I think he’s a very proud cricketer, very proud of his stats. He sets high standards for himself. It’s wrong to write him off. He’s too good a player,” Gibbs added.
While Kohli did score a century in the second innings of the first Test in Perth, it came in what were possibly the best batting conditions of the series. Apart from that knock, Kohli has not exceeded 12 runs in any of his other innings. His persistent weakness against balls pitched outside the off-stump has also been a concern. However, Gibbs believes Kohli is likely working on correcting this issue.
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“Kohli has probably sat down with India’s batting coach and knows what he’s doing wrong. You don’t play for years and score 9,000 Test runs without understanding your weaknesses,” Gibbs said.
“He thrives on big occasions, and the Boxing Day Test will be a massive one. I back him to get runs,” Gibbs concluded.
The Boxing Day Test begins on December 26, with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series level at 1-1. Kohli had previously named Gibbs as his favourite cricketer in an ICC video.