Kohli, who attained his highest Test batting average of 55.10 after his 81st match against South Africa in 2019, has been unable to sustain his peak form in the last few years. He has made just two hundreds since November 2019, with his average slipping down to 48.74 in the last five years.

Since his last Test hundred, Kohli has made 1,815 runs in 32 matches at an average of 33.61. Barring the two hundreds, he has crossed fifty nine other times, the latest of which came in the second innings against New Zealand in Bengaluru. Walking out at No.3, Kohli started nervously before finding his groove.

He was eventually dismissed for 70 on the last ball of the day. It took his average down from the 48.89 it was before the start of the game, with Kohli having registered a duck in the first innings.

How many runs does Kohli need to get his Test average up to 50?

Kohli currently has 9,017 runs in 197 innings and will need 433 more runs in his next four innings (all dismissed) if he wants to get his Test average above 50 in the ongoing series against New Zealand. He might get there sooner if he remains unbeaten in his next few innings. If Kohli can score his next 233 runs without being dismissed even once, it will take his total Test tally to 9,250 runs, giving him an exact average of 50. He can score 233* in one innings or even take 10 innings to score the runs, but he should not be dismissed in any of them.

Though not impossible, this is unrealistic, especially for a top-order batter. At the current rate, Kohli remains unbeaten once every 16.5 innings. Let us calculate till the end of the Australia series, which would give him 14 innings to bat. Let us assume he is dismissed in all of them. He would then need a total of 9.950 runs - 933 runs in his next 14 innings to breach the 50-average mark.

It would an an average of 66.64 runs per innings and while that seems a tough task, Kohli has often reserved his best for the toughest situations. India would need Kohli in a destructive mood if they want to replicate their successes in the country and a glimpse of the Kohli of old is all that’s needed.

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