Wasim Jaffer has advised the India skipper to rethink the pattern of his dismissals as he is critical of Virat Kohli’s performance in the ongoing Test series against England.
Expected to steer India’s challenge with the bat in the 5-match Test series against England, Virat Kohli has been a shadow of himself on the tour. While many experts and fans have called for the India skipper to alter his technique a little, there are others who have advised him to not be as aggressive.
Wasim Jaffer: Virat Kohli’s Defending Deliveries On The 6th Or The 7th Stump
Former India cricketer, Wasim Jaffer, feels Virat Kohli needs to re-evaluate the pattern of his dismissals as he is defending deliveries even at the 6th and 7th stump. The discipline that Virat Kohli had shown in 2018, Wasim Jaffer feels has not been put on display in the current tour.
“Virat got a half-century but we expect a lot more because he’s a quality player, a class player. He probably needs to rethink the pattern of his dismissals in this series, he’s defending deliveries on the 6th or 7th stump,” said Wasim Jaffer.
“The batting discipline he showed in 2018 is missing in this series. He needs to fire in these remaining Tests because his contribution is very, very important for this Indian team,” Wasim Jaffer said in the video.
With just a single half-century on the tour, Virat Kohli has been struggling to assert his dominance in the series. In the latest ICC Rankings, the 32-year-old even dropped out of the top 5 for the first time in five years. The 55 runs he scored in his last knock is his only half-century of the series to date. Across formats, the India skipper hasn’t scored a century since November 2019.
Virat Kohli Was Dismissed Every Time With The Ball Taking An Outside Edge Before Going To The Keeper
While Virat Kohli was aiming to have another 2018-like tour of England, the current series has been closer to the outing he had in 2014. Speaking of his dismal show in 2014, Virat Kohli himself had told former England skipper Nasser Hussain in 2016-17 that he was expecting the deliveries to come in too much. Worried about the ball hitting the stumps, Virat Kohli kept pushing at balls he should ideally have left.
Even this series has been quite similar, with all 5 of Virat Kohli’s dismissals coming with the ball taking an outside edge before going into the hands of the wicket-keeper of the slip fielders. The experts have advised Virat Kohli against chasing the deliveries outside the off-stump as much as he has on the tour. It remains to be seen what changes Virat Kohli will bring to his approach, if any, in the last two Tests.
Virat Kohli hasn’t had the best time with the bat in India’s ongoing tour of England. In three Tests, the skipper has only scored 124 runs at an average of 24.80, which is much lower than the bar he’s set at the biggest stage.
In the 2014 England tour, the Indian skipper had a horrific series where he ended up scoring only 134 runs from four Tests. He averaged only 13, with scores of 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0, 7, 6, and 20. Virat Kohli had contrasting tours of England in 2014 and 2018. In 2014, he managed only 134 runs in five Tests at a poor average of 13.40. Four years later, he hammered 593 runs in the five-match Test series. Virat Kohli averaged 59.30 with two hundred in the 2018 England tour.