As the second Test against Bangladesh approaches, it is no wonder that all discussions return to Virat Kohli’s batting struggles.
In Chennai’s first Test, Kohli managed just 6 and 17 runs leading to worries about his form. This was probably Kohli’s first Test this year in India after absconding England’s five-match Test series for personal reasons.
When Virat Kohli came out to bat in the nets at Green Park Stadium, problems persisted. Kohli could not cope with big spinner Ravindra Jadeja, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and therefore his stint with the bat was miserable. Kohli faced Bumrah for 15 balls in match practice. Although initially this exposed Kohli who scored a few runs and appeared on top of the game most touches and advances by Bumrah were also clinical too.
Half of the time, Bumrah was standing with Kohli, who he said bowled during training before picking double arms to his leg elbow. During lobes’ staying within the fitness center a bump into Kohli’s legs was stabbing instructions calling for Kohli regarding four tries the batsman made attempting to edge the ball resulting in a thud bang the pad’s faced Kohli tumbling rounds of his head snappy declaring ‘saamne laga hai’.
Further butt of Bumrah berated Kohl saying “Aakhiri wala toh short leg ka catch tha”. Kohli had a little grin on and absorbed his mistakes.
Virat Kohli faced similar problems when he came across the spin options of Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel. For instance, while facing Jadeja, he made attempts for the inside-out shot but missed the ball thrice in a row clearly exasperating him. Axar Patel dismissed him in the last practice sessions itself, which suggest that Kohli still has issues tackling the slower bowlers.
Now, as the team prepares for the second Test, everyone will be watching Kohli adapt & respond. All the fans are concerned if the able batter can find his way back and help the team in the long testing season.
