'Cannot believe a player of his class has gone that long without a hundred' - Mark Waugh surprised by Virat Kohli's century drought in Tests

The third Test match between India and Australia in Indore has put a question mark on the Indian batters' ability to tackle world-class spin bowlers. While most of the Indian batters have struggled in the series, former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh is surprised by Virat Kohli's lack of runs in red-ball cricket.

Virat Kohli ended his century drought with a blistering century against Afghanistan in the Asia cup last year. Following his maiden T20I century, the batting ace added three centuries in the 50-over format. However, Kohli's last century in the traditional format of the game came against Bangladesh in 2019. Mark Waugh feels the Indian batter has been a bit unfortunate with his dismissals and gets out cheaply despite looking in good touch with the bat.

“I cannot believe a player of his class has gone that long without a hundred. He’s been in good touch recently, he’s batted well in one-day cricket. I know it’s not Test match cricket, but the signs have been there in his last three innings in Test cricket that he’s actually playing pretty well.

"He’s middling the ball, he’s watching the ball well, and his defence is strong. He’s just making the odd error and it’s proving costly for him. He hasn’t had a lot of luck. He makes one mistake and he’s out," former Australia batter Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket.

I feel like he is a little bit tense when he goes out there in the middle: Waugh

The former Australian cricketer feels that the century will come for the batting ace and it is just a matter of time. However, he feels that Kohli is a bit too eager when he is batting, and the century drought might be playing on his mind every time he comes out to bat.

“He’s a world-class player and I feel like a hundred is just around the corner for him. He’s feeling the pressure, no doubt about it … I feel like he is a little bit tense when he goes out there in the middle. He actually does play with quite hard hands, he likes to feel bat on ball. 

“He does tend to plant his front foot, which technically is not a great thing to do in India. We have seen him play back in the crease in a couple of innings, which is quite well-suited to slower pitches. There’s no obvious weakness, but he seems to make one mistake and he’s gone,” he added.

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