Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter Parthiv Patel and legendary Bangladesh cricketer Tamim Iqbal have come out in Virat Kohli’s defence after the star Indian batter’s form in the recent months came under scanner. Kohli, who is one of the greatest batters of all time, has only managed to score one half-century in 15 matches played so far for Team India across formats in 2024. He got out for six and 17 runs in the first Test of the ongoing two-match series between India and Bangladesh.
Ahead of the start of the second Test at Green Park in Kanpur, Parthiv and Tamim were asked if the former Indian captain has been facing pressure lately when compared to the other Fab Four members Steve Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson. Patel replied by saying that he doesn’t think Kohli is under pressure to perform.
“I don’t think he’s feeling that kind of pressure. And as you rightly mentioned that, I don’t think Smith, Joe Root, or Williamson can even think of the type of pressure he must be feeling,” Parthiv said.
“The pressure of expectation—that is huge. He has set his standard so high that even if he scores 60 or 70, that comes across as a failure. Because every time he walks in, we expect him to score 100. We expect him to play with that kind of intensity, which he has always been playing.”
“But you have to understand that he is also getting older, but that zeal to play Test cricket and to do well does not die, and it will never die, as long as Virat Kohli is playing Test cricket. But yeah, I don’t think he would be feeling that kind of pressure to perform. But the expectation of us is always high because of the standard that he has set,” he added.
While Tamim stated that Kohli has won more matches singlehandedly than Smith, Root, and Williamson.
“And also, I think yes, in Test match cricket, the Fab 4 that we are talking about have done wonders. Because in Test match cricket, basically as a batter, you can’t win a game single-handedly. There are two innings and everything,” he said.
“But we also call them Fab 4 in white-ball cricket, and hands down, in what Kohli has done for India, the amount of games that he has won single-handedly, I’m pretty sure none of the other three has won that many of the games. And as you mentioned, because of the amount of pressure that he goes through, I think those three combined do not have the same pressure,” he added.
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