The only constant thing in the world, currently, is Virat Kohli walking out to the middle, the opposition side putting three slips and a gully, and the bowler firing up with delivery to the fourth and fifth stump line to expect the batter to go for a long drive, which he can’t keep himself away of at the start of his innings. And he keeps on getting dismissed in the same manner.
Virat Kohli had a great start in the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at the Optus Stadium when he, having got out against the short ball by Josh Hazlewood into the hands of the wicket-keeper, showed incredible resilience in the second innings to celebrate his 30th Test century. The veteran was expected to make a huge contribution to the rest of the series.
But the 36-year-old again had the same sort of issue. During the first innings of the second day-night encounter at the Adelaide Oval, the former Indian captain, while facing Mitchell Starc, wasn’t convinced whether to leave the short and wide ball and got a feather edge into the hands of the slip fielder, Steve Smith.
In the second innings, Virat Kohli started in a beautiful mode by whipping the leg-sided ball for a boundary before a fifth-stump ball was leaned forward by the batter as he kissed the outside edge into the hands of Alex Carey.
Time to scrutinize the batting coach? Sanjay Manjrekar’s vocal after Virat Kohli’s failure
The dates changed, conditions flipped, and the situation was different at the Gabba in Brisbane during the third Test, but the Delhi-born kept on making the same mistake he has been for the last three to four years. Mitchell Starc made him greedy with a few driving balls outside the off-stump, as the veteran seized himself from going after it.
But it didn’t last long as Josh Hazlewood delivered another sort of delivery, and Virat Kohli went chasing after it to get another feather edge to the wicket-keeper as India slipped to three down, having conceded 445 runs in the first innings. The knock of Kohli came after the 101-run innings from Steve Smith, who, for the first 51 runs in 120-odd balls, didn’t score at the cover region.
The former top order batter for India, Sanjay Manjrekar, has questioned the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on the role of the batting coach, Abhishek Nayar, for the moment, within the constant failure of India’s batting.
The renowned commentator also stated that the management would need to take full responsibility because the certain issues of the technical department that the top order of the side has been facing for a long time.
“I guess the time has come to scrutinize the role of a batting coach in the Indian team. Why major technical issues have remained unresolved for so long with certain Indian batters? @BCCI.” Manjrekar penned down on his official ‘X’ account. (formerly known as Twitter).
Also Read: Isha Guha Apologizes For Calling Jasprit Bumrah ‘Primate’ On Day 2 Of Brisbane Test
Apart from Virat Kohli, the other batters also kept on struggling. Yashasvi Jaiswal flashed for an outside edge while driving a full and wide delivery for a streaky boundary, while Shubman Gill, who was dismissed by Starc by an ins winging jaffa at the start of his innings in Adelaide to see the stumps being broken, chased a seventh stump delivery to find the gully fielder.
This has opened up the batting fragility of India, who ended the second day’s play with 51/4, trailing by nearly 400 runs. The last two days have anticipated so much rain, but Australia could smell a victory if the visiting side keeps on showing this weak batting line-up.