‘Kohli should be prepared to face a little more’ – Sunil Gavaskar reflects on what lies ahead of Virat Kohli
Mohammed Siraj, Virat Kohli (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar has asked Virat Kohli to be prepared for short-pitched bowling against him in the future. In the first ODI against the West Indies, Virat Kohli (8) got out to a rising bouncer against Alzarri Joseph. However, India went on to win the game by six wickets as they were chasing a meager total of 177 runs.
The Men In Maroon were restricted to 177 all-out, with only Jason Holder (57) playing an innings of some substance. For the Men In Blue, Yuzvendra Chahal took four, Washington Sundar took three, Prasidh Krishna took two and Mohammed Siraj took one. In reply, the Rohit Sharma-led side chased down the target in just 28 overs.
After the game, the 1983 World Cup cited an example of the South Africa series where the Proteas pacers were bowling short and trying to bounce out Kohli.
“I thought that even the South Africans seemed to be looking to do in one-day cricket maybe not so much in Test cricket, to try and bounce Virat Kohli. Because he is one of those batsmen who does not really duck. He loves to play the hook shot, which is one where you cannot really be in control,” Gavaskar told Star Sports Network.
The 72-year-old added that Virat Kohli can be peppered with a few more short deliveries in the series. “In this instance, he does not get it right. He picked the ball which bounced a little bit more and then, he anticipated, so it wasn’t quite of the middle of the bat. It went off the edge and the catch was taken. So, I feel he should be prepared to face a little bit more in the remaining matches,” he added.
