Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar has warned India’s talisman batsman Virat Kohli to be wary of short balls in the coming games after he was dismissed with a bouncer during the first ODI versus West Indies on Sunday in Ahmedabad.
Chasing a small total of 177, Rohit Sharma had made things easier for the rest of the batters with his dash of 60 runs from 51 balls before speedster Alzarri Joseph trapped him lbw.
Then came in Virat Kohli and the former India captain was welcomed by short balls from Joseph – a plan that the West Indies had previously tried against Kohli on home surfaces. Kohli took the challenge head-on, taking two boundaries off Joseph including a stylish uppercut.
However, those boundaries didn’t deter Joseph as the pacer sent down another short ball in line. This the ball bounced more than Virat Kohli expected but the batter went for a hook shot, mistiming it and was caught at fine leg.
Speaking later on, Sunil Gavaskar recalled that South Africa had also planned similar tactics against Kohli during the ODI series. Reflecting upon the dismissal in Ahmedabad, Gavaskar asserted that since Kohli doesn’t duck much and wants to take on the opposition bowlers, he is left vulnerable against the short ball ploy at times.
“I thought that even the South Africans seemed to be looking to do in one-day cricket maybe not so much in Test cricket, to try and bounce Virat Kohli. Because he is one of those batsmen who does not really duck. He loves to play the hook shot, which is one where you cannot really be in control,” Sunil Gavaskar said while speaking with Star Sports.
Sunil Gavaskar alerted that Kohli should be prepared to face more short balls in coming games.
“In this instance he does not get it right. He picked the ball which bounced a little bit more and then he anticipated so it wasn’t quite of the middle of the bat. It went off the edge and the catch was taken. So I feel he should be prepared to face a little bit more in the remaining matches,” the 72-year-old commentator added.
The second ODI will be played on February 9 while the third on February 11, both at the same venue.
