Rashid Khan comes in defense of Virat Kohli's poor form

The world has awaited Virat Kohli's 71st international century for quite a while now. However, the wait has been prolonged for more than two and a half years now. He last scored a century against Bangladesh in a Test match in 2019. Many players and pundits of the game have opined what they make of this situation. Afghanistan player Rashid Khan, has also joined in the conversation.

Virat has not performed poorly, according to the leg spinner, despite not having struck a century in a long time. He said that the veteran cricketer has performed well in difficult playing conditions in Test cricket. However, he also believed that people have a lot of expectations from the 33-year-old because of the stature that he has built over the years.

"Virat Kohli is still scoring 50, 60 or 70 runs. See in test cricket, he has scored 60, 70 runs by surviving in tough and difficult pitches. But he has scored so many centuries & has made his standard so high, everyone thinks that he should score a century every day," said Rashid Khan on Sports Tak.

In the meantime, Kohli did not have a good run in the Indian T20 League 2022. He was constantly under the radar for his performances. Virat Kohli ended the season with 341 runs at an average of 22.73 in 16 games. His strike rate of 116 was not impressive either. He did score two half-centuries in the season, though.

Recalling a conversation ahead of the match between Gujarat and Rajasthan, Rashid said Virat believed in his process. "That day when we (me & Virat Kohli) met in the practice sessions, Virat batted so long in the Nets, Virat Kohli was saying that he will come, that good innings will come, my job is to work hard and prepare hard," Rashid said.

Incidentally, Virat scored a brilliant half-century in the game against Gujarat. He scored 73 runs in 54 balls, with eight fours and two sixes in the innings. His strike rate of 135 in the match was commendable as well.