Sunil Gavaskar dissects Virat Kohli’s dismissal in second innings of WTC 2021-23 final
Sunil Gavaskar’s analysis of Kohli’s dismissal, WTC Final (Source: Twitter)
Virat Kohli would have been better prepared to manage the unexpected bouncer from Mitchell Starc on Day 2 of the World Test Championship final against Australia at the Oval in London, according to former India captain Sunil Gavaskar. Following Virat Kohli’s dismissal for 14 on Day 2 of the summit match, many dubbed Mitchell Starc’s delivery to Kohli as unplayable, while Steve Smith, a centurion, referred to it as a “difficult one.”
After Australia scored 469 runs in their first innings, Virat Kohli got off to a strong start as he appeared steady in the middle. Before he was dismissed in the game’s 19th over, Kohli, who was playing with more confidence after a successful IPL 2023 season, was leaving deliveries well and executing some signature drives.
‘Did not have enough time to drop his wrists’ – Sunil Gavaskar
Starc bowled an off-cutter with a shorter pitch as he circled the wicket. The ball hit Kohli’s gloves and he was taken off guard by the quick bounce before Smith made a superb catch at second slip. Ricky Ponting, a former captain of Australia, clarified that Starc was preparing a unique delivery for the final.
Gavaskar claims that Kohli did not have enough time to drop his wrists and leave the delivery from Starc since he was on the offensive after his natural trigger movement. Sunil Gavaskar responded, “Off the backfoot,” when asked how a batter could handle such delivery from Starc on Star Sports.
“You could have a look again, today because of the fact that there are only two bouncers per over, most batters are onto the front foot. This means they are not able to get onto the backfoot and give themselves the extra yard where you could have probably let the ball go by dropping your wrists. Yes, it was a tough delivery because he was so committed to the front foot that he was not able to withdraw his bat at the last moment. If he had been on the back foot. It looked like an unplayable ball, but if he had been on the back foot, he would have been able to drop his wrists,” Gavaskar added.
