Veteran India spinner Harbhajan Singh said that the New Zealand spinners played with India captain Virat Kohli’s ego to remove him in the T20 World Cup 2021 match between them. However, Kohli could only manage 9 runs off 17 deliveries as Team India scored only 110/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
While talking about Kohli’s dismissal during a discussion on Star Sports, Harbhajan Singh said:
“They played with Virat Kohli’s ego. They said that they will not give him the runs, if you come at the start and play the big shot, it’s fine but they will not give the singles. When you hurt a big player’s ego by not giving the singles, they play a shot like Virat Kohli played today.”
Not the result we wanted, but we will look to bounce back in the matches ahead. #TeamIndia #T20WorldCup #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/A61JjoITe1
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 31, 2021
The former India spinner also added that Virat Kohli was forced to play a shot that was going against his grain as well.
The veteran again explained: “Virat Kohli’s shot is not his natural game. He tried what he doesn’t do. If he had hit the same ball over cover or played after stepping out, I feel that would have been a better option.”
“Normally, Virat Kohli’s singles cannot be stopped. But today, Virat Kohli did not have the space to take singles. Credit to New Zealand’s field settings and the way Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi bowled, they didn’t give the easy singles, because of that they forced Virat Kohli to play that shot which he never plays,” Harbhajan Singh continued.Â
They bowled very well – Former India cricketer Irfan Pathan
However, Virat Kohli didn’t hit a single boundary in his stay in the middle. Moreover, he couldn’t even score in the first five deliveries he faced as well. And, former player Irfan Pathan applauded the New Zealand spinners for not giving any room to India captain.
“They bowled very well. You talk about the line but the control that was seen even in the length, they didn’t give Virat Kohli any pitched up deliveries because they know that Virat Kohli doesn’t play the sweep against deliveries that are further away, doesn’t use his feet also too much,” Irfan Pathan said.Â
Team India will now play against Afghanistan on November 3 in Abu Dhabi.
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