The Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli has found himself at the receiving end of criticism for his similar dismissals in the first Test against South Africa at the SuperSport Park in Centurion last week. Virat was dismissed in a similar way in both the innings of the first Test match.
The stylish batter looked well-set on-field and suddenly due to lack of focus he played a ball which was wide outside off-stump and he edged that behind the stumps. Virat was dismissed on 35 and 23 runs in 1st and 2nd innings respectively. Virat faced a lot of criticism for his shot selection as it has been used against Kohli by several bowlers now.
Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer and World Cup hero Gautam Gambhir, who is very vocal about his opinions, hit back at Virat Kohli’s critics as he extended his support to the Indian Test batter. Gambhir said that a lot of talk about Virat’s dismissal was unfounded and has created unnecessary chaos.
In his column for the Times of India, Gautam Gambhir called Virat an “exceptional” cricketer before offering him a key piece of advice. He wrote:
“A lot is being said about Virat Kohli’s dismissals in the first Test match. I think some of it is unfounded and creates unnecessary chaos. Kohli has been exceptional in his run-making for India, he just needs to leave lot more balls outside the off-stump and buy time,”
Further, Gambhir also talked about senior batters Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, who are also going through a rough phase in their career. Gambhir accepted that he wasn’t keen to play Rahane in the series opener but Rahane’s confident knock in 1st innings earned him a place in the second Test match. He wrote:
“I wasn’t too keen to play Rahane in the first game. But with decent 48 in the first innings perhaps he would have won himself a place in second Test match too. I’d continue with Cheteshwar Pujara at No. 3.”
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was ruled out of the ongoing second Test match because of an upper back spasm. KL Rahul is leading the Indian side in the ongoing test match.
