Team India’s dismal batting performance during the third Test against Australia raised quite a few questions. They were bowled out for 109 runs in the first innings followed by 163 runs in the second. The wicket at the Holkar Stadium in Indore assisted the spinners, who troubled the Indian batters. Virat Kohli played a decent hand in the match, but couldn’t help India to get a good score. Former cricketers Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar analyzed his second innings dismissal.
The veteran India batter was dismissed for 13 runs off 26 deliveries. In the twenty-third over, Matthew Kuhnemann bowled a short-of-length delivery. Kohli stayed on the back foot and tried to pull it onto the leg side. However, the delivery was quick and kept low. Kohli missed tha ball, which went on to hit the pads. He was struck in front of the middle and leg stump. The veteran batter walked off disappointed with his dismissal.
Virat Kohli missed it completely: Sunil Gavaskar
Analyzing the Virat Kohli dismissal, former head coach Ravi Shastri termed the shot selection “poor. He added that the veteran cricketer should have played with a straighter bat. Gavaskar also expressed his thoughts on Virat Kohli’s dismissal.
“Poor shot selection. The ball wasn’t bouncing much, the better option would have been if he had targeted mid-on with a straighter bat,” Shastri said.
“He does punch the ball very well with the bottom hand and this time he was looking to play it squarer. He missed it completely,” said Gavaskar.
Meanwhile, wicket-keeper batter Dinesh Karthik pointed out that Virat Kohli was aware of his position deep in the crease, which ruled out the DRS option. He said,
“Also, the fact that he didn’t take the DRS and just walked out, tells me that he was very aware that probably he was too deep in his crease. He walked up to Pujara, who gave him a grin. I think it felt out to him.”
“It would have been the umpire’s call. Normally an umpire would give this out just on the shot played,” said Ravi Shastri.
Get the latest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.