Virat Kohli Run Drought: Virat Kohli’s wretched run of form has become a national debate. Once it was talked about whether he would break Sachin Tendulkar’s magical record of 100 100s in international cricket. Now since three years, the wait for the 71st century continues. 20, 73, 35, 7, 11, 1, 11, 16, and 17 have been Kohli’s scores in the last 10 innings. A lot of cricketing experts have offered Kohli solutions to come out of this form slump. Former India batter Dilip Vengsarkar has jumped into the bandwagon and cited the example of Sachin Tendulkar to come out of this lean patch. Follow all the Virat Kohli Run Drought Live Updates with InsideSport.IN.
Tendulkar used to get out while driving the ball in the covers in 2003-04. The legendary batter curbed his game a bit through the off side and did not drive the ball through covers against Australia in the Sydney 2004 Test. Kohli has been getting out in the covers of late and Vengsarkar wants him to do the same as what Tendulkar did.
Virat Kohli Run Drought: Ex-batter Dilip Vengsarkar analyses Virat Kohli’s batting technique, cites Sachin Tendulkar’s example, and asks ‘Virat to work hard’
“If you take the example of Sachin Tendulkar in 2004, he was getting out in the same way in Australia. So, he cut off that scoring area completely and scored 241 in the last Test match of that series, without playing the cover drive. Similarly, Virat also has the ability to do the same, he needs to work hard in that area and play effectively,” Vengsarkar told Khaleej Times.
Virat Kohli Run Drought: Vengsarkar backs Kohli’s technique, and says he needs to be alert in the off-stump line – Kohli has looked good at the crease for the first few minutes, before getting out either through off side or getting caught at the crease. Against England, Kohli was out while driving through the ball to covers three times out of six innings. Vengsarkar has backed Kohli’s technique but feels he needs to stay alert in the off-stump channel.
Virat Kohli Run Drought: Ex-batter Dilip Vengsarkar analyses Virat Kohli’s batting technique, cites Sachin Tendulkar’s example and asks ‘Virat to work hard’
The former India batter feels the bowlers will target him there and Kohli should show some patience before going for big shots. “Look, he is a great player and he has scored all his runs all these years with the same technique. So I don’t think there is anything wrong technically. But yes, he is getting out in the same fashion, so he should stay more alert and work hard on that area because the bowlers are now going to bowl that off-stump line to him all the time. They are not going to bowl on his pads, they are not going to bowl the half volleys to him,” added Vengsarkar.