Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir has cited that playing too much of limited-overs cricket has hampered Virat Kohli’s Test game against spinners.
In his 100th Test, versus Sri Lanka, Virat Kohli looked scratchy at the start before settling down. However, he was dismissed for 45 by left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya. Kohli went on the back foot to a full ball on which he should have played on the front foot, the ball turned just enough to beat Kohli’s outside edge but kissed the off-stump, leaving the batter bamboozled.
In fact, Virat Kohli, who once to milk spinners for fun, has ow been observed to struggle, especially against left-arm orthodox and leg-spinners of all kinds.
Gautam Gambhir blames limited-overs cricket for Virat Kohli’s poor form in Test cricket
While speaking to Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir observed this flaw in Kohli’s game against spinners: “One of the major concerns is that the bat is in the line of pads. When that happens, it is difficult to play deliveries that turn away as well as those that don’t turn. If you keep your bat ahead of your pad, you will be beaten only on one edge. When you look at Mayank Agarwal‘s dismissal, he was beaten on the inside edge. In Virat Kohli’s case, he was beaten on the outside edge. So, it is very important to have your bat ahead of your pad.”
Further, Gautam Gambhir opined that since Virat Kohli and other all-format batters play so much of white-ball cricket, that they practice more against pacers and their ‘good habits’ of sticking to the basics against spinners are fading away.
Gautam Gambhir also spoke about the importance of tackling spin
“This is usually taught in formative years. Nowadays, you play so much limited-overs cricket that you lose your basics, the good habits die down. You’ve concentrated significantly on fast bowling, so I believe Indian batters have a scope for improvement in tackling spin,” Gambhir added.
Virat Kohli has now gone 16 Test matches without a century. He averages 28 in these games, having struck 6 fifties.
Having won the Mohali Test by a massive margin of an innings and 222 runs, India will be looking for another clean sweep at home. The second Test match, which will be a day-night affair to be played with the pink ball, starts on Saturday at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.
