Rarely does India’s batting legend Sunil Gavaskar hold himself back when it comes to speaking on the performances of current players. So, after Virat Kohli fell to a three-run dismissal in the first innings of the third Test against Australia, Gavaskar did not hesitate to have a go at the batter’s choice of shot. Against Josh Hazlewood, Kohli edged a delivery well outside the off stump into the hands of Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey, which evoked quite scathing comments from Gavaskar.
Gavaskar, on Channel 7, was candid: “If it was on the fourth stump, I could understand. This was wide, on the seventh, eighth stump. There’s no need to play that.” His forthright commentary brought forward the expectations surrounding Kohli, especially given the match context, with Australia having laid down a substantial total of 445 runs.
Gavaskar felt that Kohli would be thoroughly disappointed with the dismissal, all the more so because India needed a big contribution from him on that day. He also spoke about the difficult conditions at The Gabba, saying, “The conditions were difficult at The Gabba and Kohli’s impatience was pretty evident.”.
“He’d be very, very disappointed, he’d be very upset with that. Even before Rishabh Pant faced a ball, the rain started to come down and the covers were brought on. If Kohli had shown a bit of patience, he could have been not out alongside KL Rahul,” Gavaskar said.
This temptation of playing cover drives has been one of the reasons why Kohli has fallen prey to deliveries outside the off stump. Although he practices a lot for these types of balls, during matches, he fails to hold himself from responding to his instincts.
Many cricket analysts have said that he should take a cue from the great Sachin Tendulkar, who battled similar challenges in Australian pitches, where the ball actually bounces much more than any other pitch in the world.
