"Keep your status slightly in control" - Sanjay Bangar on what Virat Kohli needs to do in BGT 2024-25 4th Test
Former India player Sanjay Bangar has urged Virat Kohli to keep his loft status in check in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 fourth Test, starting in Melbourne on December 26. He pointed out that the ace Indian batter has an impressive record at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and will have a conducive atmosphere at the iconic venue.
In the ongoing series, Kohli scored an unbeaten 100 in India's second innings of the first Test in Perth. However, he has managed only 26 runs in his other four innings since, with a best effort of 11.
During a discussion on the Star Sports show 'Game Plan,' Bangar was asked what Kohli needed to do to return to his run-scoring ways.
"Sometimes you need to keep your status as a batter in control a little. When you surrender slightly to the game, spend a little time, ease out in the middle for some time, wait for the bowler to come to you, and do not go yourself towards the bowler, that's the sign of a big player," he responded.
"He has great memories on this ground. He played a 169-run knock there and it's a ground where the crowd will come to watch. He is a showman. Any performer needs a grand spectacle and this is a grand spectacle. So keep your status slightly in control," Bangar added.
Virat Kohli has amassed 316 runs at an average of 52.67 in six Test innings at the MCG. He played a 169-run knock in India's first innings of the 2014 Boxing Day Test.
"Play as many balls as possible close to your front pad and then the runs will flow" - Sanjay Bangar's advice to Virat Kohli
![Virat Kohli has fallen prey to deliveries outside the off-stump. [P/C: Getty]](https://statico.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/12/a46c7-17347535230723-1920.jpg?w=500)
In the same discussion, Sanjay Bangar advised Virat Kohli not to play away from his body.
"Play as many balls as possible close to your front pad and then the runs will flow because it's not that he hasn't scored runs. He scored a century three innings ago and in the series before that, he played a 70-run knock against New Zealand in Bengaluru," he said.
The former India batting coach added that such an approach would address the modern batting great's recent modes of dismissals.
"So I don't think it's a run drought. However, to think about what he needs to do ahead - if he tries to play slightly close to the front pad, I feel all these dismissals of his will automatically get erased," Bangar observed.
All four of Kohli's dismissals in the ongoing BGT have been to catches by the wicketkeeper or in the slip cordon. He has particularly been found wanting whenever he has faced a relatively new ball.