India star batter Virat Kohli hasn’t been in a great form in Tests as of recent. The 35-year-old is yet to score a Test fifty this year. In the 6 innings that he has played so far this year in red-ball cricket, Kohli has come close to the 50-run mark on 2 occasions with his scores of 46 against South Africa and 47 against Bangladesh, however has ended falling on the final few hurdles.
These knocks have brought back memories from his extended slump in form from 2019 to 2023. In the New Zealand series, Kohli will be up against left-arm spinners Ajaz Patel and Rachin Ravindra, the tribe who has been a thorn in his path in the past.
Aside from this, there has also been quite some time since Kohli has stood out as one of if not the best performer throughout a Test series, and a New Zealand side who ended up getting dismantled in their recently-concluded Test series against Sri Lanka, could be his golden chance to do so ahead of the upcoming Border-Gavaskar series which will be crucial for India if they want to secure a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
Also, Kohli is just 53 runs away from reaching 9000 Test runs so he will be looking to reach the mark with a fifty in the upcoming Test match against the Black Caps. By doing so, Kohli will become only the fourth Indian batter to reach the mark after Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sunil Gavaskar.
