The much-anticipated World Test Championship final is just a couple of days away and cricket fans worldwide are eagerly awaiting the clash between India and Australia at The Oval.

Now, as has been the case for all these years, a lot of focus will be on Virat Kohli and a lot of India’s fortunes will depend on how well the former captain performs. Kohli has turned a corner as far as his form is concerned. In March this year, he put an end to his 1,205-day century drought in Test cricket by smashing his 29th century against Australia.

After enduring a lean patch since 2019, Kohli made a roaring comeback with a century against Afghanistan during the Asia Cup in 2022. He carried his impressive form forward and emerged as the highest run-scorer in the T20 World Cup later that year.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar was all praise for Kohli’s resilience during his lean period and he said a lot of it was due to bad fortune.

“Every player goes through what we call a bad patch or a lean patch. Then later on, once he started scoring runs, you would have noticed that in the early stages, he had a bit of luck. The inside edges were narrowly missing the stumps, catches were being dropped, or they were falling just out of reach of the fielder,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

He also went on to add that Kohli has returned to form since he possesses a wonderful temperament, a hunger for runs, and is blessed with strong technical skills.

As far as Kohli’s numbers against Australia are concerned, he has scored 1,979 runs in 24 matches at an impressive average of 48.26. This includes eight centuries and five half-centuries.

He has generally enjoyed the challenge against Australia and, hence, will be a key member of India. Should the conditions favour batters at The Oval, the stage is set for Kohli to find his rhythm and deliver a match-winning performance for his team.