Virat Kohli, on his 100th Test match, has made 45 off 76 balls in India’s first Test of the two-match series against Sri Lanka in Mohali. Gautam Gambhir has noticed a big weakness after Kohli’s dismissal, saying the former has played so much limited-overs cricket that he has lost basics.
Virat Kohli had made a strong start to his innings in his 100th Test match at Mohali against Sri Lanka, but his struggles against spin came back to haunt him when a delivery from Lasith Embuldeniya turned away to beat Kohli’s outside edge and struck the stumps. Kohli looked confident throughout his 75-ball stay prior to the dismissal, but departed cheaply in the 44th over of the innings.
Kohli is playing in his 100th Test match, and might have another chance to score the most anticipated three-digit score on his landmark match, but former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir opined that the problems for Kohli, as well as the other India batters, are deeply-rooted when it comes to facing the spinners.
Speaking on the post-Tea show on Star Sports on Day 1 of the first Test against Sri Lanka, Gambhir suggested that the Indian batters need to revisit their basics.
“One of the major concerns is that the bat is in the line of pads. When that happens, it is difficult to play deliveries that turn away as well as those that don’t turn,” Gambhir said.
“If you keep your bat ahead of your pad, you will be beaten only on one edge. When you look at Mayank Agarwal‘s dismissal, he was beaten on the inside edge. In Virat Kohli’s case, he was beaten on the outside edge. So, it is very important to have your bat ahead of your pad.”
Gambhir further noted that India’s preparations on facing fast bowlers, coupled with an excessive amount of playing in limited-overs cricket, has drifted the batters further away from the basics.
“This is usually taught in formative years. Nowadays, you play so much limited-overs cricket that you lose your basics, the good habits die down. You’ve concentrated significantly on fast bowling, so I believe Indian batters have a scope for improvement in tackling spin,” Gambhir added.
