Before 4th Test Match Laxman says, ‘Kohli doesn’t know his off stump’
The last person Virat Kohli consulted at the time when he was going through a difficult phase was Rahul Dravid. Then Dravid had asked him to play those shots at the nets he wasn’t comfortable playing in the match. That did wonders to him. Now the problem is he has to call up a Dravid or a Tendulkar and figure out the problem he is going through. Apparently, he doesn’t know where his off stump is.
Addressing the issue, VVS Laxman has cautioned the Indian skipper of one problem. Former India batsman Laxman opined that Kohli is repeating the same mistake of playing outside the off stump line. The right-hander has already been caught behind multiple times and seems to be struggling with leaving the ball outside off stump.
“I thought India would post a big score in the second innings at Headingley when the second new ball was taken, especially with the way Pujara and Virat Kohli were batting.
“However, Kohli is repeating his mistake of playing the line outside off stump away from his body and he will need to work on that. There is not much time left before the next Test and this is the challenge of international cricket,” explained Laxman.
He, however, isn’t the only expert to have pointed this flaw out. Even Sanjay Bangar, India’s former batting coach, also believes that Kohli has failed to show patience.
“The bottom line as far as I am concerned is that Virat Kohli has not shown the patience that England bowlers have shown against him. That was the only difference.
“He has not got out defending a lot of times. He has gone towards the ball in all his dismissals. If you see his dismissals from 2014, he did not get out playing the drive as many times as he got out defending. I feel he is playing the sixth or seventh stump delivery, which is not required to be played. He needs to check his position when the ball gets released,” Bangar said while speaking in a YouTube video uploaded on Aakash Chopra’s channel.
Kohli has only scored 124 runs in the first three Tests and with the series locked at 1-1, one big innings could help India bounce back at the Kennington Oval, where action begins on Thursday.
