“His adamance to not try another way” - Sanjay Manjrekar slams Virat Kohli after failure in BGT 2024-25 2nd Test
Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckons Virat Kohli's weakness outside the off-stump is one of the main reasons behind his recent downfall. The former skipper once again perished while poking at an away delivery in the first innings of the second Border Gavaskar Trophy Test in Adelaide on Friday, December 6.
Coming on the back of a hundred in Perth, Kohli walked out to bat after the dismissal of KL Rahul. He had a couple of overs to see through until lunch but he got out for 7 after playing eight deliveries.
The ball was pitched on the sixth stump and Kohli was late in withdrawing his bat. The ball kissed the face of the bat and went low to Steve Smith at slips, who completed a good catch. It is the 41st time that Kohli has been dismissed caught behind, which accounts for 21.6 percent of his wickets.
Soon after his dismissal, Manjrekar took to X to point out one glaring reason behind Virat Kohli's average slipping below 50 in red-ball cricket.
"One important reason why Virat’s average has slipped to 48 now, is the unfortunate weakness outside off. But more crucially his adamance to not try another way to tackle it," Manjrekar wrote.
Virat Kohli has had a dismal outing in Tests this year, aggregating only 362 runs in 15 innings at an average of 27.84, including a century and a fifty. The only hundred came in the second innings of the first Border Gavaskar Trophy Test in Perth.
Team India lose skipper Rohit Sharma post-lunch
After a steady 69-run partnership between KL Rahul and Shubman Gill for the second wicket, Australian bowlers came back to haunt the Indian batters. Mitchell Starc, who dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal on the first ball of the match, got the better of Rahul to provide the hosts with a breakthrough.
He continued the momentum to dismiss Kohli a couple of overs later before Scott Boland joined the party. He dismissed Shubman Gill as the visitors went to lunch at 81/4, with Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant in the middle.
The Aussies continued to strike as Boland got the better of Rohit Sharma soon after play began following the lunch break. At the time of writing, India are 91/5 with Pant and Nitish Reddy in the middle.