Virat Kohli

Kohli, who is well-placed to end his career as the player with most Test centuries - he is just six short of Sachin Tendulkar's 49 ODI tons - endured the year 2020 as the first calendar year of his international career since 2008 without a triple figure mark. Since his November 2019 Test ton against Bangladesh, he has managed just three half-centuries in eight Test matches. The 24.64 Test average in this phase in 14 innings is well below his career average of 52.04.

India were on Wednesday beaten by New Zealand by eight wickets in the inaugural WTC final, a one-off event. "Look, firstly I am not in absolute agreement of deciding the best Test side over the course of one game, to be very honest. If it is a Test series, it has to be a test of character over three Tests," said Kohli in the post-match press conference.

The WTC final, which is being played in front of a crowd of 4,000, had suffered a significant loss of play on Friday after the entire first day was washed out. While things went fine in the first half of the second day, poor visibility affected the latter half. Players had to take early tea at 3.10 pm local time and returned half an hour later.

India captain Virat Kohli was unbeaten on 35 off 94 deliveries while his deputy Ajinkya Rahane was on 13 off 54 deliveries as they battled it out against a disciplined New Zealand, who had won the toss and elected to bowl. Openers Rohit Sharma (34 off 68 balls) and Shubman Gill (28 off 64 balls) had provided a solid start of 62 in 20 overs as New Zealand bowlers struggled for the ideal line early on.

Kohli was felled by a fast bouncer from one of India's throwdown specialists in a video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Tuesday as he prepared for the WTC final that gets underway from June 18. Lee was on Monday quoted as saying, "For me personally, I just want to get something out that has some pace, bounce and carry in the pitch."

Kohli, who will lead India in the World Test Championship final against New Zealand from June 18 and the five-match Test series against England, is fifth with 814 points behind England skipper Joe Root. Pant and Sharma are joint sixth with 747 rating points each. Sharma, who was placed eighth in the previous cycle, has moved one spot past New Zealand batsman Henry Nicholls, who is now in eighth spot.

Khan, who represents SunRisers Hyderabad in Indian Premier League (IPL), also called Rohit Sharma one of the most naturally-gifted batsmen who has a lot of time on his hands. "If there is any other batsman, he will come under pressure if you bowl well to him. He will play a shot which is not his strength like a sweep, a slog sweep or any other different stroke. [But] Virat will follow his own process. He goes with his mind," said Khan.

"This is the ultimate format of cricket. Everyone wants to become a Test player and now there's a World Cup of Test Championship," said Patel. "Now there is a chance for Virat Kohli - who has been eluded from the ICC trophy, he has led India in couple of ICC tournaments, but this is big. Winning Test championship would be a big feather in his cap," said Patel on Star Sports.

Apart from the fact that they are yet to win a Test series in South Africa, New Zealand and England, where they suffered humiliating series loss in 2018, India won series in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21 only after close contests. Those wins can't be termed one-sided like the wins scored by West Indies of 1980s and Australia of 1990s and 2000s.

Kohli was a complete failure during his first tour of England in 2014, aggregating 134 runs across 10 innings at an average of 13.4. He returned four years later a much more successful batsman, topping the batting charts in the bilateral series with 593 runs across 10 innings at an average of 59.3.