The former opening batter of the Indian side, Sunil Gavaskar, has made an entirely different take on the dismissal of Virat Kohli on the opening day in the second day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval. The veteran Delhi-born batter has returned to the form on the back of an unbeaten century in the second innings of the opening Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
In the first innings of the previous game, Virat Kohli was undone by the short-pitched ball from Josh Hazlewood, when he couldn’t handle the bounce and pace of the ball. In the first innings of the Adelaide Test, Mitchell Starc got another one to rise from the length to Kohli, who was in down mind whether to play or leave the ball.
In the end, the experienced batter failed to take his hands away from the line of the ball and left his bat hanging, which saw the ball kissing the edge and landing in the slip cordon. The former captain had to make a long walk back to the dressing room for seven.
“Getting close to the ball is the key for Virat Kohli”- Matthew Hayden
Most of the pundits have criticized Virat Kohli for not changing the game despite repeated failures on the pitches that have offered sheer pace and bounce. The 36-year-old was blamed by the former top order batter of India, Sanjay Manjrekar, who addressed it as one of the major reasons for the Test average of Kohli being dropped to 48 from the high 50s as the batter hasn’t been reluctant to change his technique.
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Sunil Gavaskar, however, expressed that if the same technique has helped him in collecting 9000 Test runs and 30 centuries in the longest format, then he should look to carry on with it without being worried by the dismissals.
“That’s what happened in Perth and again over here. I think it is also because of the high back lift. It is so that you can’t bring it down in time and let the ball harmlessly pass. But the man has got more than 9000 Test runs batting with the same technique.” The former opening batter for India has expressed on Jio Cinema after the end of the first day’s play. “He has got out twice, so what? I would not be too worried. The man has got 30 hundred. So he knows how to bat. He was not lucky in Perth and also this time around. There’s plenty of time to go in this series.” Gavaskar highlighted.
Virat Kohli has overall gathered 9145 Test runs in 203 innings at an average of over 48 and a strike rate of around 55, shouldering on 30 centuries and 31 half-centuries at the best score of unbeaten 254 runs.
The former Australian opener, Matthew Hayden, has also supported Virat Kohli on making the right decisions in the second innings of Perth but explained that the latter again made the mistake of going back to the traditional guard of staying on the off-side.
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“Batting conditions were tricky here. He was making good decisions in Perth (2nd inns). He was clear about his movement. He got in line with the ball and played it down the ground. This time, he went back to the traditional guard and stayed offside to the ball. When he starts to seam around, it becomes tricky, getting close to the ball is the key for Virat Kohli.” The former left-handed opening batter shed light.
The former Indian captain has always enjoyed batting in Adelaide and he will aim to turn it around in the second innings.