Virat Kohli will soon score hundreds: Muhammad Yousuf

Virat Kohli will soon score hundreds: Muhammad Yousuf.

Pakistan’s great hitter Muhammad Yousuf believes that Indian captain Virat Kohli is in his prime and will soon start hitting hundreds again in all formats.

Kohli, considered one of the best current hitters in the world, has not scored a hundred in any format since 2019.

“Kohli is only 32 years old and this is the age when the best hitters reach the best level and it is only a matter of time before he starts hitting hundreds again,” Yousuf said in an interview.

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“Accomplishing what he has already accomplished is formidable and for me, getting 70 tests and hundreds of One-day International (by Kohli) is extreme,” said Yousuf, who has played 90 Tests and 288 ODIs.

Yousuf, who still holds the world record for scoring the most Test runs in a calendar year when he made 1,788 runs in the 2005/06 season, wouldn’t want to compare Kohli to legendary hitter Sachin Tendulkar.

“He (Kohli) has done it and jitney praises karo isko kum hai (no matter how much we praise him, it is less). But at the same time, I don’t think there is a comparison between him and Sachin (Tendulkar).

“Tendulkar was an entirely different class. He scored 100 international hundreds and keep in mind the era he played and the pitchers he played against, ”said the former Pakistan captain.

Yousuf felt that India was still producing technically better hitters compared to Pakistan.

“His young hitters have always had role models from one era to another. That is why even today, they (India) are producing better hitters. I was lucky that when I started playing I had players like Inzamam ul Haq and Saeed Anwar to look up to and I was also coached by a great like Javed Miandad ”.

Yousuf said that Pakistani cricket stakeholders need to sit down and think seriously ahead because there was an urgent need for young players to focus on other formats besides T20 as well.

“Otherwise, we will face more hitting problems in the future,” said Yousuf, who is now a hitting coach at the PCB’s high-performance center.

“T20 is fun cricket and I see it as a blessing in disguise as it has vastly improved the financial status of our players. But at the same time, I think you can even be successful in this format if you stick to the basics and smart cricket with a lower percentage of risky shots. ”

He pointed out that hitters like Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, and Steve Smith were all perfect examples of this approach.

“Smith is an exception in his style of play given the way he plays, but his approach has been very successful in all formats, especially test cricket.”