Virat Kohli’s Test record in England: Stats, Numbers & Analysis

Indian cricket team could potentially be without two of their top batting stars in the upcoming tour of England starting in a month’s time. Rohit Sharma has already retired from the longest format of the game after slew of poor performances. On Saturday, reports stated that Virat Kohli may soon follow his teammate into retirement ahead of the five-match series. 

The coming tour could have been the fourth time Kohli would have played in England. India’s former skipper first toured England in 2014 where he had a woeful time with the bat scoring just 134 runs from ten innings. This was followed by the tours in 2018 and 2021 where he was the captain of the side. 

Touring England as the skipper in 2018, Virat Kohli had a much better time with the bat scoring 593 runs from 10 innings with two centuries and three half-centuries. In 2021, in what could be his final tour Kohli scored 249 runs from five matches with just two fifties. This also included the rescheduled Test that was played in Edgbaston in 2022 after the previous series was curtailed due to COVID-19. 

Is England the kryptonite for Virat Kohli?

There is not doubt that England is a tough place to tour for any batter considering its variable weather conditions and playing surfaces. In 17 matches, Kohli has scored 1096 runs. But his average of 33.21 is the worst when tour SENA nations in Test cricket, for the record, the 36-year-old has great numbers in Australia across his five tours. 

Kohli’s performance in last tour of England

When India toured England for a five-match series (four in 2021 and one in 2022) last time, Kohli didn’t have a great time with the bat. The right-handed batter couldn’t replicate his efforts from the 2018 tour where he had scored score nearly 600 runs. Kohli scored just 249 runs from the five matches and was placed in eighth spot for leading run-getters in the series. In fact, Kohli was the sixth best batter in the tour. 

*-Denotes players who didn’t play the 2022 Rescheduled Test match in Edgbaston

Virat Kohli’s numbers across venues in England 

This year, India begins their tour of England with the first match in Leeds and the second game will be played in Edgbaston in Birmingham. This will be followed by two matches in London to be played in Lords and Oval while Manchester will host the fourth Test. Virat Kohli has played in all the above mentioned venues and has varied success with the bat. 

The above table denotes that Kohli has had most of his successes with the bat in Edgbaston which favors batters more. On the typical English surfaces in Leeds, Lords or Manchester the former India skipper has struggled to score runs. Considering that Kohli has been struggling with the bat in the last few years in the Test format, the coming tour of England could be a huge challenge. 

At one stage, the former skipper was averaging above 50, his Test numbers has plummeted in the last five years. Yet another lean series with the bat in England, where scoring runs has been a huge challenge for many batters could see Kohli’s numbers take a further pounding. 

The big question: to stay or go?

There is no doubt that Virat Kohli will be considered as one of the greats of the game even if he walks away from the Test format. The 36-year-old has done a lot both as a batter and as a skipper in the whites. Since 2020, Kohli’s average has barely managed to cross 30 in the Test format if we leave out his splendid run in 2023. In fact it was in 2023 that Kohli for the final time went past 1000 runs in Test cricket for a calendar year. Considering, India’s selectors are starting to look to the future, it may very well be in Kohli’s best interest to continue playing as an ODI batter and help India win the 2027 ODI World Cup.