"More than technical, Virat Kohli's aggressive thinking is causing him problems" - Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan believes aggressive instinct rather than any technical deficiency has led to Virat Kohli's indifferent run in the series against England thus far.
Kohli has scored just 124 runs at a lowly average of 24.80 in the five innings he has played so far. The 55 runs he scored in his last knock is his only half-century of the series to date.
During an interaction on Aakash Chopra's YouTube channel, Irfan Pathan attributed Virat Kohli's underwhelming performance to his dominating nature. He said:
"I feel more than the preparation, Virat Kohli looking to dominate is forcing him to play deliveries outside off-stump. It is just that small thing. More than technical, Virat Kohli's aggressive thinking is causing him problems."
Anjum Chopra feels Virat Kohli's pursuit of excellence has led to his downfall. She elaborated:
"He also knows that he has to score runs. But the thing about error-free batting, that he will make a statement is putting more weight on his shoulders and maybe not allowing him to move freely. I feel he needs to bring his standard slightly lower than the error-free batting he is trying to do."
Virat Kohli has been targeted outside the off stump by the English bowlers. They have played with his patience and eventually got him to poke at deliveries to be caught behind the wickets.
"Virat Kohli has not shown the patience that England bowlers have shown against him" - Sanjay Bangar
Sanjay Bangar pointed out that Virat Kohli has lost the battle of patience against the England bowlers. He observed:
"The bottom line as far as I am concerned is that Virat Kohli has not shown the patience that England bowlers have shown against him. That was the only difference."
The former Indian batting coach added that Virat Kohli's mode of dismissals has been slightly different from the ones in 2014. Bangar explained:
"He has not got out defending a lot of times. He has gone towards the ball in all his dismissals. If you see his dismissals from 2014, he did not get out playing the drive as many times as he got out defending. I feel he is playing the sixth or seventh stump delivery, which is not required to be played."
With the series tied at one apiece and all to play for, the Indian skipper will hope to rise to the occasion and play telling knocks in the remaining two Test matches.