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Form is temporary, class is permanent. The first time that particular adage popped up on my radar was some time back in the 1980s, when the West Indies wore tee-shirts bearing that rather daunting message before a Test series started in Australia.
True to form, the Windies proceeded to crush the Aussies in their own backyard, as they did so often and so ruthlessly back in the day, and the aforementioned theory was reaffirmed in the process.
Those days are long gone, of course, but the time-honoured logic will be put under the microscope this summer when Virat Kohli strives to rediscover his mojo in the five-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Kohli has been a run machine for more than a decade now, as evidenced by his 80 centuries for India across all three formats.
At 36, he is still a chance of surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s record 100 international centuries. To put all that in context, Joe Root (51), Kane Williamson (45) and Steve Smith (44) are no mugs in their own right.
Yet as Ricky Ponting pointed out this week, in comments that riled India coach Gautam Gamhir, Kohli’s prolific white-ball form hasn’t carried into the Test arena for some time.
“Punter” certainly seemed to hit a raw nerve, although he got his stats slightly wrong when he said Kohli had scored only two Test tons in the past five years. He’s actually scored three in that time.
Nonetheless, his two most recent centuries (in 2023) have come from his past 34 Tests, whereas he posted triple figures 27 times in his first 84 Tests.
His overall average has dropped from mid-50s at the peak of his career to 47.83.
Six years ago, when he told Aussie skipper Tim Paine “I’m the best player in the world, and you’re just a stand-in captain”, it was bloody hard to argue with the cocky so-and-so.
Now he sits an inexplicable and presumably embarrassing 22nd on the ICC’s Test rankings. And no matter how many pyjama-cricket titles he wins, Kohli will surely know deep down inside that true greatness is defined by a Test average of 50-plus.
It’s a tough school, but that’s how they’re judged, and it’s almost unheard of for exceptions to be made.
So for that reason alone, the Aussies would be wise to be wary of the ageing “King” this summer. Kohli won’t want to finish his career with a mere mortal’s Test average, and the best way to avoid that will be to score big, big hundreds, as he once did so routinely.
The other worry for Australia is his record on our pitches, which are surely the best batting decks in the world.
In 13 Tests Down Under, Virat has plundered six hundreds and four half-centuries at an average of 54.08.
Unlike some sub-continental batters, he appears to relish the extra bounce in Aussie tracks, as evidenced by his superlative 123 at Perth in 2018.
If he has apparently mellowed since stepping down as India’s skipper, he remains a fierce, proud competitor who clearly loves winning.
Ponting’s forthright comments are possibly the last thing the Aussies need, because Kohli is not the type to cop it sweet.
Virat Kohli. (Photo by Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images)
He’s at his best when riled, just as Brian Lara once was.
Moreover, if there are concerns about the form of Kohli and India captain Rohit Sharma, the problem for Australia is that they may not even be the key wickets.
Young tyros Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill are establishing themselves as world-class bats in their own right, while Rishabh Pant has returned from his time out with injury like a heavyweight Adam Gilchrist in India’s middle order. Not forgetting that Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin have been known to chip in with Test centuries on occasion.
All of which raises the question of how India possibly lost 3-0 at home to New Zealand.
Well played to the Kiwis, but you have to wonder if India’s focus was at least slightly distracted by the blockbuster series looming on the horizon.
Whatever the case, Virat has been there and done it all before, and his diminishing returns over the past few years might yet prove to be a blip, by the time he has declared his illustrious innings closed.
The bottom line is that if he brings his A-game, if he bats as well this summer as he has previously on our shores, Kohli can not only inspire India to a series win, he can remind everyone that form is temporary, class is permanent.