WI vs IND: What Virat Kohli Needs To Do To Get His Test Average Past 50?

image-ljwty5q5Virat Kohli [Image- Twitter]

Legendary Indian cricketer and former captain Virat Kohli is all geared up to take on the West Indian pacers in the upcoming Test series in the Caribbean.

The two-match series will kick off in Dominica from June 12; the same venue where Virat played a game during his maiden Test series in 2011.

Since then, Kohli has seen it all. He has seen insurmountable peaks as a batsman and as captain, and also soul-crushing lows and an extended blip in form, which saw him struggle to get a Test ton for almost 2.5 years.

During the past 2.5 years, Virat's performance in the format that he loves the most has taken a sharp dip. And, while he still managed to carve some really good knocks during the said time frame, he wasn't able to convert them into a big score like he used to do during the 2010s and the gap between two good innings was littered with low scores.

Of course, one of the major reasons behind a significant drop in his average is all down to India playing on extremely challenging wickets over the course of the last 2 years.

But, from a player of Kohli's stature, one expects better.

Kohli's Test average has been a big talking point in the last 2 years as it has dropped to a shade under (48.73) from the previous peak of 54.

However, the right-handed batsman has shown signs of resurgence this year. Kohli was India's leading scorer in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2023, which he capped off by scoring a chanceless and patient 186 in Ahmedabad- his 28th ton and 1st since November 2019.

In 8 innings this year, Kohli is averaging 45, albeit thanks to that daddy hundred in Ahmedabad.

Virat looked in good touch during the World Test Championship final against Australia last month, but once again failed to convert the starts into a big knock.

As the West Indies tour is on the horizon, one question that is on everyone's mind is whether Virat can push his average past the 50 mark again?

For him to achieve that, Kohli would need to score 421 runs in 4 innings, which given the nature of the Caribbean tracks over the course of the past 5 years and their pace battery, looks tough. But, then, Kohli is no stranger to nailing impossible looking tasks.