Former Indian skipper and batting legend Sunil Gavaskar slammed India’s Test skipper Virat Kohli after he fell cheaply for the second time in the ongoing Boxing Day test match against South Africa in Centurion.
Virat Kohli has been going through a tough phase with the bat in his career. Though, he hasn’t lost his form exactly, but it has been 2 years since he last smashed a century in any format of the game. Moreover, his numbers in the longest format of the game haven’t been great. The opposition bowlers have exploited his weakness outside the stumps and have been able to dismiss the Indian skipper.
Virat Kohli is not happy after watching his dismissal. pic.twitter.com/wVmJOqfF7l
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 29, 2021
A similar thing happened in both the innings of the ongoing Boxing Day Test in Centurion. Though he looked in a good rhythm on both the innings but unfortunately he tried to attack the harmless deliveries that he could have easily left.
After getting dismissed for 35 runs in the first innings, Virat failed to make it big in the second innings as well. He was dismissed after scoring 18 runs in a similar fashion. Virat tried to launch a cover drive in the first ball after lunch against the left-armer Marco Jansen, and nicked the ball for an easy catch to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock behind the stumps.
Disappointed with his dismissal, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, who was on the commentary during that moment, slammed the Indian skipper for throwing his wicket away. He said:
“(It was) bowled at an angled across outside off stump, look at how far he played. Pretty similar to the first innings dismissal,”
He added:
“It was a loose shot, first ball after lunch. Every batsman gives himself a little time, especially in Test cricket to get his feet moving. Even if it’s a drink interval, you need to reset your batting. Kohli, being such an experienced batsman… maybe he was looking to get quick runs to get declaration done. But often, when teams look for declaration, especially in Indian cricket history, they’d be all out.”
The legendary batter further pointed that Kohli is a bottom-hand player and couldn’t get the perfect angle to drive it through. He said:
“Look how far away this ball is, he could’ve left it all alone. First ball after lunch! He’s a predominantly bottom hand player, the bat has an angle to it which gets him out,”
