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As Kohli completes 9 years in Test Cricket, here is something to show how he has been for the most part of his career carrying a mediocre batting lineup away from home. To establish my point, I am going to compare his away numbers with the greatest Test batsman of this era.
I have taken all away matches where both of them have had one innings of 50 or above. I did not do an innings wise classification because having a greater Test match is more impactful than, say, the solitary great knock.
Now all these matches of theirs will be classified into 3 brackets depending upon the % of team's runs they scored in an innings:
a) >40%
b) 30%-40%
c) 20%-30%
Even if one innings from a match qualifies for the greater bracket, both scores from that match go there.
a) >40%
b) 30%-40%
c) 20%-30%
Even if one innings from a match qualifies for the greater bracket, both scores from that match go there.
>40 suggests it was pretty much of a carryjob with basically no support. 30%-40% suggests a very, very good knock but with decent support. 20%-30% suggests a good knock but there were contributions greater than or equal to from other players.
Keys:
TL=Toss Lost; TW= Toss Won;
Also mentioned in the bracket is the result from that match if it is a positive one i.e WON or DRAW. Ones where they aren't mentioned are the lost ones.
Also mentioned the next best scores as much as possible to indicate the level of support.
TL=Toss Lost; TW= Toss Won;
Also mentioned in the bracket is the result from that match if it is a positive one i.e WON or DRAW. Ones where they aren't mentioned are the lost ones.
Also mentioned the next best scores as much as possible to indicate the level of support.
Out of Kohli's 26 '50+' scores in away matches, 12 of them have come in a match where he has contributed to more than 40% of the team's total in one innings of that match.
Out of the remaining 14 '50+' scores in away matches, 7 of them have come in matches where he has contributed to 30% or more of the team's total in one innings of that match.
Only 3 of Kohli's knocks from the remaining 7 '50+' contributions have come in this category. Unsurprisingly, there is only one SENA match on this list.
The remaining 4 of Kohli's '50+' scores in away games have come in matches where his contribution was less than 20% of the team's total in an innings. Only one SENA game features on this list( Melbourne'18).
Smith is the best Test match batsman right now. Kohli comes second. But their impact on games isn't as large as the difference in their averages would suggest.
For most part of his away career barring the odd WI/SL tour, Kohli has had a mediocre and inferior bowling attack. How many times has Kohli scored a ton in a SENA game and not have had to bat in the second innings? Never.
When was the last time Kohli scored a ton in SENA and wasn't the top scorer? It has never happened. For example, Smith, on the other hand has 4 tons across SA, NZ, Eng and SL where he wasn't the top scorer in that innings and his side got a positive result from the match.
In modern Test cricket where winning the toss gives you an enormous advantage, it must be noted that how most of Kohli's best away tons came in games where his side lost the toss. Touring sides have won only 23% of the games where they have lost the toss since 2010.
Kohli also has, by far, has the best 4th innings record amongst all his contemporaries. On the other hand, Smith is yet to score a 4th innings ton. Not that it takes anything away from his greatness but it does speak a lot.
I really wish Kohli could statpad a bit more to increase his average. One reason for an average lower than what it should be is the fact that when he blanks, he blanks bad.
But irrespective of all that, I don't want to hear Kohli the Test match batsman being put in the same sentence as the likes of Williamson, Pujara etc. They are all tiers below ffs. Enough with the disrespect.
End. If I 'MIGHT' have got the odd stat wrong, please correct it and point it out here. Most definitely was an inadvertent error.
