Five bowlers from the past who could have troubled Virat Kohli

Cricket writers are having genuine trouble foraging superlatives for Virat Kohli and his endless run of rich form. Seldom has a batsman had such an authoritative hold over an era of bowlers, one that has stretched across formats and has been in place for multiple seasons now, already earning him a place among the greats of the modern game.

While Kohli has had the upper hand over most contemporary bowlers, a select few from yesteryear could have given the 28-year-old a run for his money in their pomp.

Here are five bowlers from the 1990s who could have effected a few skirmishes on Kohli's recent spotless record:

#5 Glenn McGrath

Possessing an action as smooth as a hot knife slicing through butter, McGrath, for the entirety of his career, managed to land the ball exactly where he wanted to. His unerring accuracy, especially on the off-stump to a right-hander, nagged the best of batsmen, prising out false strokes even from the most defensive of shields.

Kohli shuffles from the middle to the off stump while playing pacers: he also tends to open up his hip just a little when expecting inswinging deliveries from them. He may have improved by leaps and bounds from his horrid self who suffered against James Anderson in 2014, but he still plays the ball with hard hands on the off-side, presenting a chance to edge the ball behind him when met with a ball pitched on the off-stump and deviating slightly away.

Also, McGrath, with the height that he possesses, managed to give the ball some extra lift: while Kohli doesn’t have any apparent weaknesses against the short ball, he would have had to adjust his technique to counter the extra bounce that ‘Pigeon’s’ deliveries would take on the off stump, right within the corridor of uncertainty.