India star Virat Kohli‘s lean patch in international cricket continues. The right-handed batter failed to fire in the recently-concluded first Test against Bangladesh held in Chennai. In both innings of the Test, Kohli delivered subpar scores of 6 and 17. Kohli’s poor form has put him under harsh criticism. However, former India opener Parthiv Patel has backed the underfire batter. Parthiv said that Kohli is facing the pressure of expectations because of the standards he has set for himself. Pathiv added that neither of Joe Root or Kane Williamson or Steve Smith — the rest three members of the ‘Fabulous 4’ — will be facing the kind of pressure that Kohli has been subjected to.

“I don’t think he’s feeling that kind of pressure. And as you rightly mentioned that. I don’t think Smith or Joe Root or Williamson can even think of the type of pressure he must be feeling. The pressure of expectation, that is huge. He has set his standard so high that even if he scores 60 or 70, that comes across as a failure. Because every time he walks in, we expect him to score 100. We expect him to play with that kind of intensity, which he has always been playing,” said Parthiv ahead of second Test between India and Bangladesh as quoted by Sportskeeda.

Virat is having a poor run of form across all formats this year. In 15 matches and 17 innings this year, he has scored just 319 runs at a sub-par average of 18.76, with just one half-century to his name and a best score of 76 made during the T20 World Cup final against South Africa.

Now, in Tests, Virat’s average is at an eight year low. In 114 Tests, he has scored 8,871 runs in 193 innings at an average of 48.74, with 29 centuries and 30 fifties. The last time his average was lower than this was during November 2016, when he averaged 48.28.

(With ANI Inputs)