Indian Captain Virat Kohli has looked fragile in the ongoing 5-match Test series against England. Kohli has scored only 124 runs in five innings at an average below 25. His highest score came in the second innings of the Headingley, Leeds Test which was 55. Also, India lost the match against Joe Root’s England by the huge margin of an inning and 76 runs. Also, Virat Kohli hasn’t scored a century since November 2019. He has gone a century less for 51 innings now. Meanwhile Former England captain Nasser Hussain has pinpointed areas of concern for Kohli.
Nasser Hussain believes that Indian captain Virat Kohli is playing more like he did in 2014 and not like 2018 where he had a dominant run on English soil.
“India does have a lot of strength of character and fight, and central to that is their captain, even though Kohli has looked more like the 2014 version rather than the one who conquered English conditions and England’s attack in 2018,” wrote Hussain in his column for the Daily Mail on Monday.
Further, Hussain added that Kohli has played balls that he could be leaving. Also, he highlighted the poor positioning of his backfoot.
“Kohli has played at balls he could be leaving, he seems to have that slight technical issue I highlighted in these pages with the positioning of his back foot and he is not picking up the line of Anderson and Robinson.”
Virat Kohli, as captain, has lost only 2 Tests by an innings. Both the losses came against Joe Root.
Instances:-
2018 at Lord's
2021 at Leeds#ENGvIND— ComeOn Cricket šš®š³ (@ComeOnCricket) August 29, 2021
“It’s high-class bowling and it’s not going to get any easier for Virat Kohli”: Nasser Hussain
Hussain mentioned that Virat Kohli is getting out in similar fashion in all the innings he played against English bowlers.
“He did go through a spell on the third day, admittedly against an older ball, where he was leaving it well. But it’s harder to leave the new ball because it swings later, and he was out again on Saturday in a familiar manner,” observed Hussain.
Nasser Hussain feels that Kohli is unsure about which ball to play and which to leave he believes things will be very tough for Indian skippers in upcoming games.
Ā “Kohli is not sure whether to play or leave and whether to set himself for the inswinger or not. He doesn’t know what to do. It’s high-class bowling and it’s not going to get any easier for him.”
Most times Top-scoring in a calendar year as Test Captain:-
11: Graeme Smith (2008)
09: Joe Root (2021)*
09: Virat Kohli (2018)
09: Bob Simpson (1964)#JoeRoot #ENGvIND— ComeOn Cricket šš®š³ (@ComeOnCricket) August 30, 2021
