Virat Kohli looked set to finish in Test cricket's greatest-ever bracket. With a slump now extending nearly five years, he's likely to fall below the mark by the time he's done.
Virat Kohli, days away from his 36th birthday, has had a year of highlights and low points. He became a T20 World Cup winner and retired minutes after, and now continues in what are unarguably his two strongest formats.
Kohli’s greatness as an ODI player will stay unblemished, but his Test credentials have been taking bruises for a long time now, leaving us with the question:
Has he slipped too far to be the all-time Test great he once looked certain to be?
In plain definition, it could be sacrilegious for some to even consider Virat Kohli to not be a top-tier legend. He's likely to end up at least above Sunil Gavaskar on India's all-time run charts, third behind Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid. Those three names are synonymous with Indian Test batsmanship.
Kohli's level with Sir Don on the centuries count, with 16 names ahead of him across all countries, including the other 75 per cent of the Fab Four he belongs to.
Wedged between his Test accomplishments and all-time greatness is his now protracted Test slump.
Further into this month, it will be exactly five years since a Virat Kohli century resulted in an India Test win. For reference, there were 11 of those in the period from 2016 to 2019.
