Virat Kohli is human, he had to fail one day: Sourav Ganguly
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly has said Virat Kohli is "human and had to fail one day". "He failed in both innings in Pune...In the second innings, I think the game was already over. A 441-run target was a humongous task. Kohli will come back because he is a class act. His record against Australia is unreal," said Ganguly.
Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said Virat Kohli will come back strongly in the second Test against Australia in Bangalore after a rare failure in Pune.CLICK TO WATCH FULL VIDEOKohli, who has had a record-breaking home season, became the first batsman in history to slam four double hundreds in successive series. However, Kohli fell for a second-ball duck in the first innings, chasing a wide one off Mitchell Starc and then shouldered arms to a straight ball from Steve O'Keefe in the second to record scores of 0 and 13 respectively. (Never challenge Virat Kohli, he will come good in Bengaluru: Harbhajan Singh to India Today)These were Kohli's worst returns at home in a Test where he has batted in both innings, it was his first duck at home and only fifth overall. A couple of off days for the captain meant a staggering 333-run defeat for India. Last week, not even the most ardent Australian fan would have thought that was possible. (Can Virat Kohli's India repeat 2001 heroics vs Australia? Harbhajan Singh and Nayan Mongia recall Kolkata miracle)But Ganguly said Kohli was only human and he was bound to have one off-day.   "Kohli is human and he had to fail one day. He failed in both innings in Pune. I think he played a little bit of a loose shot in the first innings outside the off stump but the Australians bowled him there," Ganguly told India Today. "They must have seen Stuart Broad and James Anderson bowling to him in England outside the off stump. In the second innings, I think the game was already over. A 441-run target was a humongous task. Kohli will come back because he is a class act.  His record against Australia is unreal," he said. (Surprised with the way Australia won: Michael Clarke to India Today)Kohli was on fire in Australia, slamming 692 runs including four hundreds in four Tests down under. In his first Test as captain (standing in for an injured MS Dhoni) at the Adelaide Oval, Kohli smashed a hundred in each innings to pull off an improbable win. "To watch those four back-to-back Test match hundreds against Australia in Australia (was surreal). I have not seen even Sachin Tendulkar do that," Ganguly said.