"Virat Kohli played a bad shot" - Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir believes Virat Kohli's dismissal in India's first innings of the second Test against England was the result of a bad shot.
Virat Kohli was castled by Moeen Ali before he opened his account. The Indian captain tried to play an expansive cover drive off a full wide delivery, but was done in by prodigious turn, as the ball disturbed his timber.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra shared their thoughts on Virat Kohli's dismissal.
Gambhir opined that it was a poor shot selection by the Indian captain, as he attempted an ambitious drive against the spin.
"Virat Kohli played a bad shot, according to me. Because on such a wicket, if you are playing a drive against an off-spinner who is bowling in the rough, you might have to face the consequences at times," said the former Indian batsman.
The cricketer-turned-commentator elaborated that it was too early in his innings for Virat Kohli to play such a shot on a spin-friendly surface.
"A new player who has not yet settled, if he plays a cover drive like that against an off-spinner, when you always say that you should play with the turn on a turning track and not against it, so it was a bad shot, and he had to pay for it," added Gambhir.
"Virat Kohli will be unhappy with himself as well" - Ashish Nehra
Ashish Nehra observed that Virat Kohli would be pretty disappointed with his mode of dismissal.
"Virat Kohli will be unhappy with himself as well. If you are set and have got accustomed to the wicket, then you like playing such shots. The way the dust is flying, it is rare on the first session of the first day. There were foot marks where the ball landed, so it will turn but not so much usually," said Nehra.
Gautam Gambhir concluded by saying that Virat Kohli should have moved his guard to off-stump if he was looking to play the cover drive. He reasoned that it would have helped him get closer to the pitch of the delivery.
"If you have to play a shot like that, you can probably stand on the off-stump against an off-spinner because then you reach closer to the ball. If you stand on middle-stump and give room for the ball to turn, such things can happen. Even it had struck the pad, it would have been outside the off-stump. You don't play such shots on this wicket so early, and we have not seen Virat Kohli do this often," concluded Gambhir.
Virat Kohli was dismissed for a duck by a spinner for the first time in Tests. He will hope to make up for that by playing a substantial knock in the second innings and help his team level the four-match series.