Virat KohliStruggling with balls outside the off-stump in the ongoing Test series against Australia has great Allan Border wondering if the Indian superstar has “just lost that edge”. Kohli fell to the ball outside off stump four times out of five times in the series, prompting comparisons with England’s similar slump in 2014. On Monday he was caught chasing a wide ball that he could have left alone. .
“Today’s dismissal is usually the kind of decision he would leave alone if he were at his best,” Border was quoted as saying by Fox Cricket.
“I’m not sure what’s going on with Virat mentally (and) whether he’s lost that edge.”
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is named after him and the Indian legend. Former England captain Michael Vaughn said Kohli paid the price for not leaving enough balls. “He’s a player who comes out of the game (and) tries to get to the top almost too early,” Vaughn said.
“When he plays at his best, especially in Australia and England where the ball has a little more action, he just comes off the ball. Most of his dismissals in this series were balls he could have left behind. I don’t think he has a jaffa,” he said.
Our batters need to leave more balls: Pujara
Wall of India during two previous tours of Australia, Cheteshwar Pujaraalso analyzed the visitors’ struggles in the batting department.
“We saw K.L. hit. (Rahul) because if you give your best, if you defend well, if you leave balls well and even the way the Australian batters did, if you look at the way (Nathan) McSweeney, Usman (Khawaja) and even (Marnus) Labuschagne did it…” Pujara told ESPNcricinfo.
“I mean they didn’t score too many runs, but they hit over 50 balls, which allowed Smith to come in after 15-20 overs and then the partnership came back, so that’s it. Travis Head should have come after 30 overs. So our batters didn’t do that and that should be the game plan.”
In reply to Australia’s 445, India scored 51 for four at stumps on the second rain-marred day at the Gabba.
“If you are batting in Australia, you need to have a game plan where you want to bat in the first 30 overs without thinking about the scoreboard,” Pujara said.
“If you get a no-ball, you still try to punish it. You also don’t have to be too defensive, but you pick the wrong ball.”
“The mistake our batters made was getting the length wrong because if you’re playing in Brisbane you need to know that from five meters out it looks like the ball is lifted but because of that extra bounce you can’t control those balls. .
“You only put pressure on the bowler when you pick the right ball, when you make the right decision as a top-order player. You can’t play like that, you have to respect good balls and that’s where the mindset or approach has to change,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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