"Coming out of the crease in Perth is a tactic not many try to pull off"- Michael Vaughan questions Virat Kohli's approach in 1st BGT 2024-25 Test
Former England captain Michael Vaughan was surprised by Virat Kohli's tactic of walking outside the crease to combat the Australian pacers on Day 1 (November 22) of the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 Test in Perth. With excessive seam movement and bounce on offer for the seamers, Kohli tried to nullify the former by batting way outside his crease.
However, the move paid no dividends as he was dismissed by a Josh Hazlewood delivery that bounced steeply to take his outside edge.
Speaking to Fox Cricket, Vaughan felt Kohli's tactic, while proactive, was one that not many batters will attempt on a bouncy Perth track.
“It is too hard to judge him. Coming out of the crease in Perth when the ball is bouncing is a tactic not many try to pull off and he went for that. It bounced and he found the outside edge. But I think that now we have seen Australia (bat), this was clearly kind of a pitch where you had to be proactive because there’s plenty of balls out there," he said.
Vaughan added:
"So generally in this era of the game, when the pitch does anything, players try to play aggressively and try to do things to disrupt the bowler. It’s not a tactic I would have used. But ... Virat Kohli is a legend of the game and you had to try to do something."
Kohli's early dismissal was a continuation of his dismal run in Tests this year, with the veteran batter averaging 21.25 in seven outings.
"You're forcing yourself to play at every ball" - Matthew Hayden on Virat Kohli's batting method
Matthew Hayden went deeper into Virat Kohli's method of walking outside his crease by highlighting the challenges of leaving the ball from that position.
On a nightmarish day for the batters from both sides, 17 wickets fell across the Indian and Australian first innings for 217 runs on the opening day.
Speaking on Star Sports, Hayden said about Kohli's dismissal:
"What his base or foundation solution to fast bowling units like Australia, exposing just bowling a 6 or even 7 stump line closer to the ball, which meant he actually came out of his crease and batted off stump. But the trouble is when you get yourself into that position, you've also got to maintain that you're allowed to leave the ball. See, when you're in that batting position and you're closer to the ball, it actually means then you're forcing yourself to play at every ball."
He added:
"Test match cricket is about how well you leave the ball, not about how well you hit the ball. I mean, you saw the benefits of batting time through the middle. 50 overs this wicket today for India when Nitish Reddy was batting and Rishabh Pant was starting to look easy. You could tell the brow was less furrowed and they were starting to make advances on the game. That's test match cricket. It doesn't have to be over in a session."
Kohli's rare failure on Australian soil meant India was bowled out for an underwhelming 150 in their first essay.
However, the hosts endured an even bigger struggle with the bat, finishing Day 1 on a paltry 67/7.