Virat Kohli has already established himself as one of the best batsmen in the world, across all formats. Not only has the Indian skipper performed with the bat, but his captaincy credentials have also led India to the top spot in the ICC ODI and Test rankings.
However, going by the 28-year-old’s performance in the recently concluded ODI series against Australia, Kohli had a quiet series with the bat. It was only his match-winning knock of 92 in the 2nd ODI in Kolkata that made an impact. In the other 4 ODIs, the India talisman only managed to scrape through with a total of 88 runs.
Former India opener Virender Sehwag feels this is because of a change in Virat Kohli’s batting technique and feels that it is only a matter of time before Kohli gets in his groove.
“If you observe his batting techniques in the recently concluded series, Kohli played most of the balls towards the third-man region, which he did not play so often previously. There must be a reason for the shot selection and only he will be able to tell about it. But, I think Kohli should have converted his innings of 92 in the second ODI at Eden Gardens into a century as he got dismissed while playing the ball towards the third man,” Sehwag was quoted saying by India TV.
“Every batsman goes through a rough patch and it is completely normal. In the last series against Sri Lanka, he scored quite a lot of runs and this is where the law of averages comes into play. And hopefully, in the coming series against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, Kohli will score runs and convert them to centuries as well,” Sehwag added.
Displeased with Kohli, the Nawab of Najafgarh also came up with a vital advice that was passed on to him by ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar.
Restating his point about Kohli’s dismissal in search of squeezing singles and playing a lot of shots directed in the third-man region, Sehwag insisted that a wicket is more important than a couple of cheeky singles.
“Tendulkar emphasised time and again that you should not give away your wicket for a single. Your wicket is so precious and can’t just waste it in search of that single, that one run holds no value,” Sehwag concluded.
