3 Reasons why Virat Kohli may go down as the best Indian Test batsman

Virat Kohli, the man who has redefined Indian cricket as well as cricket as a whole, the man who has taken batting to another level, the man who might break majority of the records set up by the 'God of Cricket', Sachin Tendulkar.

Carrying the hopes of billions of people over his shoulders, Virat Kohli has never had it easy. The biggest question hovering over the minds of fans is whether Virat Kohli will go down as the greatest Indian player or greatest Indian Test player of all time or not. Here's why we believe he might go down as the greatest Indian test batsman of all time.

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#1 Growing Competition In Test Cricket

England v India: Specsavers 2nd Test - Day Four

ODI cricket might have deteriorated over the last 5 years or so, but the quality of Test cricket has only gone uphill over these years. From 2000 to 2010, teams scored at a better batting average because the tracks were relatively easier to bat on unlike now, where batting in Test cricket has become much more difficult.

Statistically speaking, the Australian cricket team scored at an average of 36 from 2000 to 2010, which has declined to 33 in this decade. England's scoring rate was close to 34.5 on an average which has declined to 32.92 in this era.

Indians have taken a huge toll on their batting average. They scored at 37.18 between 2000 to 2010, but since the beginning of 2011, Indian batsmen have only managed to score at 32.77, a new low for them.

This speaks a lot about how batting has become more grueling nowadays. And in this time, this era, Virat Kohli has managed to amass 6100 runs at a whopping average of 54.45, scoring everywhere he played.

#2 Lone warrior in overseas tours

England v India: Specsavers 1st Test - Day Two

It has been evident over the past few years that Virat Kohli has been India's lone warrior with the bat, and India have lost a majority of their overseas matches only because other batsmen weren't able to adapt to the conditions and gave away their wickets easily.

Virat Kohli is the leading run scorer in the ongoing England tour with close to 600 runs. The second highest scoring batsman of the series is yet to reach the 300-run mark. Despite Kohli’s heroics, India have lost the series. This is not the first time it has happened. Kohli was the leading run scorer for India in South Africa too, averaging beyond 47, where the next best for India was Hardik Pandya with an average of 19.

Back in 2014-15 tour of Australia, India were close to beating Australia in the first test of the series and Virat Kohli scored a century in both the innings of that match. So to conclude this, Virat Kohli has been a lone warrior for India and that has been the story in a majority of the Test series that India have played overseas in the last few years. It has been Kohli and the bowlers versus the home team.

#3 Teams taking the home advantage

England v India: Specsavers 4th Test - Day Four

Over the last few years in Test cricket, the home team has always had an upper hand going into the series and in most of the tours, it is the home team that came out victorious at the end of the series, which was not the case back in 2000s.

The teams have started taking home advantage to a whole new level, depending on the weakness of the touring party. The tracks start turning on day one in Asia, whereas the ball is always doing something since ball one outside of Asia.

Because of this reason, batsmen have found it difficult to play away from home. Back in 2000s, teams did not take home advantage as much, the tracks were mostly batting friendly and most matches resulted in a draw.

The situation has changed as of now because a draw is very rare in this era as taking 20 wickets in the match has become easier. Virat Kohli has battled all the odds to rise to the top and has already broken many batting records. It will not be a surprise if he goes on to break even more of them.

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Conclusion

Currently, Virat Kohli might not be the best Indian Test batsman ever, but he certainly has the ability to be India's best ever. If Virat Kohli continues to play the way he is playing, he will definitely go on to break numerous batting records and will become the best Test batsman the world of cricket has ever seen.