"Virat Kohli Needs To Score Runs Not Only For India But For Himself": Sourav Ganguly

BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Friday said struggling batting maestro Virat Kohli needs to score runs not only for India but "for himself" too. In the Asia Cup starting in the UAE on Saturday, Kohli will resume the quest to score his first international hundred since 2019, having failed in all his previous attempts. "He needs to score runs not only for India but for himself. Hopefully it will be a good season for him. We all are confident that he'll come back," Ganguly said during an interaction.

Kohli's last international century came during the pink ball Test against Bangladesh at the Eden Gardens in 2019.

"I'm sure like all of us are waiting for him to get that hundred, he's working for it as well," Ganguly said.

"The chances of getting a hundred in a T20 is less because of the time. But, hopefully, this will be a big season for Kohli."

The 33-year-old former India captain, who was last seen in action in England in June-July, is back after a one-month break that saw him skip two white-ball series in the West Indies and Zimbabwe.

Kohli's highest score in his last five matches has been 20 in India's loss to England in the rescheduled fifth Test at Birmingham.

Having relinquished captaincy at Royal Challengers Bangalore as well, Kohli had a quiet IPL 2022, scoring 341 runs from 16 matches at an average of 22.73.

Ganguly, during his interaction with the media on the sidelines of Senco Gold & Diamonds' DG Gold promotional event, refused to agree that a big player like Kohli can endure a lean patch as long as this.

"He's a very big player, there for a long time. I know he has his own formula to score runs. It's not possible that players of his stature can't have such a long lean patch, I know he will definitely score