Virat Kohli has blown hot and cold in this series. While runs have largely been hard to come by, he still has a hundred to his name — at Perth, where India won the Test match. Courtesy of that, his numbers have look slightly better than that of Rohit Sharma’s. In the 4 matches played Kohli has scored 167 runs, at an average of 27 — with a highest of 100 not out.
Poor Virat Kohli’s Technique Stands Exposed
So, that really sums up his IND vs AUS series, where he has not been able to control his habit of fiddling with deliveries on 4th or 5th stump, and getting out caught in slips, gully or to the keeper. In fact, apart from his one not out in Perth, all his dismissals have been quite similar. A video released by 7Cricket shows, how Virat Kohli‘s problem outside off, has gone from bad to worse on this tour.
In the first innings of Perth Test, it was a Josh Hazlewood short ball, that Kohli tried to leave, but ended up edging to first slip man, Usman Khawaja. Come the pink ball Test in Adelaide, it was Mitchell Starc who dismissed him, through a delivery pitching outside leg, travelling to the off stump, only to take a leading edge from Kohli’s bat — caught by Steve Smith at second slip.
The second innings in Adelaide saw Virat Kohli trying to get into the line of the ball, only to edge it to the keeper, on the bowling of Scott Boland. In Brisbane, against Hazlewood, he tried to fish for a delivery way outside off, attempting a cover drive, but failed miserably, giving a simple catch to Alex Carey.
Caught Behind Wicket – Aussies Know the Trick
In the ongoing Test, it was a repeat of what transpired in the first three Tests. Again Kohli fiddled with a fifth stump ball from Boland to be caught by Carey. And the last heartbreak came when, on Monday, despite looking good, Kohli went for an expansive drive against Starc, to be caught by Khawaja at first slip.
While there is hardly any doubt to Virat Kohli’s genius, but the Aussie pacers have certainly exposed his weakness big time. His average has dropped to 47, which used to be in early 50s, primarily because of this short-coming. “Virat will play, forget the way he got out, I think he will play for another 3-4 years,” Ravi Shastri had said.
But if this is the way, he is to continue playing for the next few years, it looks certain, that his average, for all you know, might just drop to a poor 40.
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