Former India captain Virat Kohli continued his desperate attempt to find the cure to his weakness against the deliveries outside the off-stump line as he hit the nets at the Gabba in Brisbane on Tuesday amid the team’s first innings on Day 4 of the third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.
Kohli sparked memories of his horror campaign in England 10 years back after he was haunted by a familiar weakness yet again, leading to a similar slump. On Monday, he was caught behind chasing a wide ball from Josh Hazelwood that he could have left alone. It was the fourth time he was dismissed by a delivery outside the off-stump out of five times in the series thus far.
As experts continued to criticise the modern-day great, Kohli, in an act of desperation to prove his worth yet again, hit the nets on Tuesday to find a solution to his weakness amid’s India’s Day 4 outing at the Gabba.
Kohli was joined by Shubman Gill as well, who as well has incurred a forgettable tour of Australia so far. In his second visit to the country, Gill managed only 60 runs in three innings, without a fifty. Four years back, he starred in India’s historic win at the Gabba with a valiant knock of 91. However, his form outside Asia took a nosedive since then, scoring just 200 runs in eight appearances without another fifty.
‘Virat Kohli lost his edge’
After Sunil Gavaskar rants on air about the “poor” dismissal, Australia’s great Allan Border wondered if Kohli has “just lost that edge.”
“Today’s dismissal, that’s normally a delivery he would have left alone if he was in his best possible form,” Border was quoted as saying by Fox Cricket. “I’m not sure what’s going on with Virat mentally (and) whether he’s just lost that edge.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan reckoned Kohli paid the price for not leaving enough balls.
“He’s a player who’s going out there (and) almost trying to get on top too soon,” Vaughan said.
“When he plays at his best, particularly in Australia and England when the ball does a little bit more, he just leaves the ball. Most of his dismissals in this series have been balls that he could have left. I don’t think he’s got a jaffa,” he said.
