Indian captain Virat Kohli has not been in the best of form in the recent India vs England Test series. He has received flak from everyone from all over the world. A lot of people have given different types of advice as to how the Indian captain can improve his form. Former Indian opener Wasim Jaffer has given his views about Virat Kohli’s form.
Virat Kohli has accrued 124 runs from three Tests, at an average of under 25. That’s almost 25 percent of what he scored in 2018 after the same number of games in the famous Player of The Series performance. Wasim Jaffer said the right-hander needs to ‘rethink’ his pattern of dismissals and work on his temperament.
💬 We are ready to bounce back in the next Test: B Arun 🗣️#TeamIndia looking positive ahead of The Oval Test 💪🏻#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/81KGyU8nqN
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 1, 2021
“Virat got a half-century but we expect a lot more because he’s a quality player, a class player. He probably needs to rethink the pattern of his dismissals in this series, he’s defending deliveries on the 6th or 7th stump. The batting discipline he showed in 2018 is missing in this series. He needs to fire in these remaining Tests because his contribution is very, very important for this Indian team,” Wasim Jaffer said on his YouTube channel.
India lost the third test and now the series is currently tied at 1-1. For India to win the series Virat Kohli will have to step up and get a big score. Virat Kohli scored his only half-century of the tour in the second innings but once again got out fishing for a wide delivery without control.
Ravichandran Ashwin should be included: Wasim Jaffer
Wasim Jaffer weighed in on the ongoing debate between Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Wasim Jaffer believes that Ravichandran Ashwin can pick up wickets consistently which Ravindra Jadeja has not been able to do for the last three Tests.
“The Indian team should think about playing Ashwin. The Oval pitch is historically a very decent batting wicket with good bounce. I think a combination of 3 fast-bowlers and 2 spinners would be a good idea. Also, the way Ashwin bowls… I mean, yes, our fast-bowlers are taking wickets but you would expect spinners to do the same and Jadeja hasn’t been able to do that so far. I think he’s your best bet against Joe Root. It will make a difference,” Wasim Jaffer said.
“If you look back, he troubled Steve Smith a lot in Australia and that’s one of the reasons why India did well. If Ashwin plays, it’s possible he’ll put pressure on Joe Root and he can also break those partnerships in between. He’s a master craftsman with over 400 wickets and somebody who’s done well in England in the county matches as well. He needs to come into the picture in the next two matches,” he added.
India play the next Test match on 2nd September at the Kennington Oval, London.