"They play from the body a lot more"- Brad Hogg explains why Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma struggled against Reece Topley
Although India won the ODI series 2-1 in England, the struggles of their stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli were evident against left-arm pacers.
The duo have often had trouble facing the angle created by left-arm fast bowlers and perhaps that's why Reece Topley had the upper hand over them in the series.
However, former Australian left-arm wrist-spinner Brad Hogg feels Topley's new-ball partner David Willey had an important role to play in that ODI series.
In a video on his YouTube Shorts, here's what Hogg had to say about Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's weakness against Topley:
"Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma get as forward as they can against Willey and they are comfortable playing on the front foot and driving him. But against Topley, who doesn't bring it in as much as Willey and gets the extra bounce, they play from the body a lot more. And when it doesn't come back in, it forces them to play away from the body, and that was their downfall."
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma made topley look like Wasim Akram
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma's struggles were set up by Willey: Brad Hogg
Brad Hogg went into the technicalities of both Topley and Willey and explained how the differences in their style of bowling helped England keep the Indian stars quiet.
The 51-year-old feels the difference in swing and length that both bowlers bowl made it tough for both Kohli and Rohit to adjust quickly. He stated:
"England had plenty of options in the previous ODI series against India and Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli struggled against one of them. But it was set up from the other one.
"David Willey and Reece Topley were a very good combination. One, they have got variation in height, Topley is a lot taller than David Willey. But Willey swings the ball more and looks to go fuller than Topley."
Kohli goes! TOPLEY
https://t.co/PjeGtfAFDQ
India's top-order will need to figure out their issues against the left-arm pacers if they want to avoid such collapses, especially in knockout games of ICC tournaments.