Virat Kohli should have just a “little more concentration” and, to not go chasing after deliveries outside the off-stump, he needs to develop a “stronger willpower” to regain his form back, suggested former cricketer Saba Karim.
Twice in 5 innings on the England tour so far, Kohli has got out kicking to deliveries outside the off-stump. The former wicket-keeper reckoned Kohli needs to be closer to play those deliveries and should abstain from his instincts.
“I feel he needs a little more concentration and stronger willpower to emerge from this phase. This story has been repeated by Virat Kohli many times. That is why we have been saying how good he looks, he is in good form, but the search for the big score is still there,” Karim said on Sony Sports.
“Kohli’s speciality has always been that he allows the ball to come close to his body and then he plays his shots. But the way he has been getting out, the way he got out today as well, the ball was too far outside the off-stump and he tried to flirt with it and the result was that he got out again,” he added.
There is a “pattern” in Virat Kohli dismissals
In the second ODI at Lord’s, he had even looked in good touch and confidence as he played three sumptuous drives for boundaries but then got out in what has been a familiar fashion – outside edging a delivery well outside off-stump. Kohli has failed to go past 20 in his 5 knocks on the England tour.
Karim has noticed a pattern in the superstar batsman’s dismissals over the recent years. He opined that bowlers are happy to concede boundaries by inviting Kohli to drive on the front foot and then trap him in their plans.
“I am seeing a pattern in Virat Kohli’s dismissals, what happens before that. We saw in the Test matches that he played fantastic drives off the front foot, so are bowlers setting him up like that?
“They first pitch it up to him, so that he commits himself on the front foot and then shorten the length slightly and then get a wicket there. It is necessary for Virat Kohli to understand this and then find a solution for it. You can emerge from this phase if you are ready to bring a change in your game plan,” the former selector further elaborated.
Kohli will have one more opportunity to get a big score- in the third ODI in Manchester on Sunday as he goes on a month-long break having taken rest from the West Indies tour.
