Who said what - top 5 expert reactions to Virat Kohli's failure in 1st innings of 1st BGT 2024-25 Test ft. Sunil Gavaskar
India stalwart Virat Kohli continued his disappointing batting form in the first BGT 2024-25 Test against Australia in Perth on Friday (November 22). Kohli was dismissed on five off 12 by Josh Hazlewood, which left India reeling at 32/3. In the end, the visitors ended their innings at 150, while Australia were 67/7 at stumps on Day 1.
Hazlewood welcomed Kohli to the crease in the 13th over. He straightaway looked in discomfort, as the right-arm pacer was pitch-perfect with his good-length deliveries. In the final delivery of the over, the fuller ball just went past the edge of Kohli as he leaned forward to defend it.
After observing Kohli's tendency to come on the front foot, Hazlewood devised a plan. He used his height advantage to bang the ball at hard lengths.
Kohli took guard well outside his crease to negate the swing. Taking note, Hazlewood continued with the same strategy and got a reward in only his 10th ball to Kohli. The right-hander was undone by a delivery that climbed on him at an awkward height, taking his top edge, and was caught by Usman Khawaja.
Check out Virat Kohli's dismissal below:
On that note, let's take a look at the top reactions by experts on Virat Kohli's dismissal in the Perth test.
#1 Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar, who is also serving as a commentator for the fixture, shed light on Virat Kohli's dismissal on ESPNCricinfo. He thinks Kohli has been vulnerable to the ball pitched around the off-stump for a while now.
According to Manjrekar, Josh Hazlewood spotted Kohli's game plan and effectively countered it with his tactics. He said:
"Post 2013, Virat Kohli has been every concerned about that ball pitched up outside the off-stump. He was standing outside the crease and on the frontfoot to nullify the swing. But, now bowlers are bowling shorter to him due to the same reason.
“Josh Hazlewood was generally fuller, 60% of balls in the full area, but the moment Virat Kohli started doing this, he went a little short. Basically, he has put all his eggs in one basket."
#2 Sunil Gavaskar
The legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar was critical of Virat Kohli for playing on the front -foot early in his innings. He thinks Kohli would have been in a better position to score runs against Hazlewood on the back foot.
Here's what Gavaskar said on Star Sports after the day's play:
"When you're on the backfoot, you have a little more time to judge whether to play or leave the ball. Today, Kohli was on frontfoot, and Hazlewood set him up nicely. He forced him to lean forward with his fuller ball, and outfoxed him with an awkward bounce. If Kohli was on backfoot, he would have been in a better position to play the ball."
#3 Manoj Tiwary
In an interaction on Cricbuzz, Manoj Tiwary pointed out Virat Kohli's inconsistency since last year. As per him, the veteran batter came with a mindset to score runs and set the tone for the rest of the series.
However, Tiwary thinks the Perth surface isn't that friendly to the players opting to play on a front foot, which resulted in Kohli's early dismissal. He said:
"Virat Kohli has not scored enough runs in the last 20 innings. It doesn't take this much time for a big player like him to return to form."
"It was unfortunate that Kohli couldn't set the tone for the series in his first innings. He wanted to play on frontfoot, but Perth wickets often see a steep bounce, and Hazlewood was able to use to extract bounce to dismiss him," he added.
#4 Aakash Chopra
Former cricketer-turned-commentator Aakash Chopra felt Virat Kohli's new stance found him wanting around the off-stump line. As per Chopra, the 36-year-old is trying everything to get back into form, but has failed to do so.
Here's what Chopra said on his official YouTube channel:
"Kohli is standing on the middle and off-stump, and then he is moving again towards the off-side while playing the ball. As a result, he is forced to play all the balls delivered to him around the off-stump."
"Kohli is trying to do something different, but he has lacked that aura and invincibility. It is happened for the first time in the last seven years that Kohli has failed to breach the 20-run mark in five consecutive innings. He is obviously going through a rough patch," he added.
#5 Matthew Hayden
Former Australian opener Matthew Hayden also shared his take on Virat Kohli's batting troubles. He feels Kohli's stance backfired him, as he was not allowed to leave the ball, which was pitched in the area of uncertainties.
Here's what Hayden said on Star Sports (via India Today):
“I think what his base or foundation solution to fast bowling units like Australia, exposing just bowling a 6 or even 7 stump line closer to the ball, which meant he actually came out of his crease and batted off stump.
"See, when you're in that batting position and you're closer to the ball, it actually means then you're forcing yourself to play at every ball."