"Virat Kohli didn't really look the way you expect him to be" - Aakash Chopra on Team India's run chase in the 1st ODI vs South Africa
Aakash Chopra has highlighted that Virat Kohli was not at his fluent best with the bat in the first ODI against South Africa.
Kohli scored 51 runs off 63 deliveries before mistiming a sweep shot to Temba Bavuma at midwicket. Team India lost a flurry of wickets after his dismissal and eventually lost the match by 31 runs.
Reflecting on the Indian team's run chase in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra pointed out that Kohli was not at the top of his game. He explained:
"Virat Kohli didn't really look the way you expect him to be. Honestly speaking, he didn't seem to be in that good form, else you don't see him play so many sweeps. He played those sweeps because he was unable to dominate or rotate the strike."
The former India opener highlighted that KL Rahul's slightly circumspect start had put the visitors behind the eight ball. Aakash Chopra elaborated:
"Rahul was slightly cagey, he was a little defensive. They started the bowling with Markram and you didn't really go after him. That's a bit of a problem because 296 was a slightly above-par score considering the pitch, which was slow, gave the feeling of an Indian pitch."
Looked like KL Rahul was playing against Sunil Naraine not Markram!
Rahul scored 12 runs off 17 deliveries and was caught behind the wickets of Aiden Markram's bowling. The Indian batters allowed Markram to bowl six consecutive overs for just 30 runs at the start of their innings.
"Shikhar Dhawan showed that when everyone crumbles under pressure, he rises to the top" - Aakash Chopra
However, Aakash Chopra was effusive in his praise for the knock played by Shikhar Dhawan. He said:
"Rahul got dismissed by Markram but after that, Shikhar Dhawan showed that when everyone crumbles under pressure, he rises to the top. People were talking about him having not scored runs in the Vijay Hazare and to play someone else, but Shikhar is rock-solid gold."
The renowned commentator added that while Rishabh Pant suffered a slight lapse in concentration, Shreyas Iyer was found wanting again against a short-pitched delivery. Aakash Chopra observed:
"When back-to-back wickets fall, you are stuck. Rishabh Pant gets out down the leg side. I agree it was a piece of magic from Quinton de Kock but there was a slight loss of concentration as well. The Iyers were dismissed by bouncers, it spreads like wildfire - whenever Shreyas Iyer comes, he will get bouncers."
- 181/4 (33.5)Big wicket for the Proteas. 🙁
Shreyas Iyer tries to pull Lungi Ngidi, ball gets his glove and nestles in the hands of keeper de Kock.
🇮🇳- 181/4 (33.5)
#SAvIND #SaddaPunjab
Aakash Chopra concluded by saying that the Indian top order need to bat longer and in a more dominating fashion because they are leaving a tough task for the middle order. He pointed out that the top-order batters need to take more responsibility to ease the pressure on the relatively inexperienced middle order.