Virat Kohli in simulation game at WACA© AFP
In need of a much-needed confidence boost, India’s talismanic Virat Kohli is coming into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on the back of a woeful performance against New Zealand. India lost the home series against the Kiwis 0-3, incurring a never-seen-before whitewash in a 3-match assignment. One of the biggest factors behind India’s poor show in the series was a string of poor shows by seniors like Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma. As India prepare for the opening Test against Australia at Perth, Kohli’s struggles against short deliveries have become public.
In the 3-day simulation game against India A, Kohli was dismissed for just 15 runs when he came out to bat for the first time. Most of the Indian batters struggled against India A pacers, particularly Mukesh Kumar who put on a terrific show.
Kohli came out to bat for the second time on Day 2, remaining unbeaten on 30 runs before he went to the nets and did some customised practice. While his performances in the middle didn’t instill a lot of confidence, it has been reported by ESPNCricinfo that the 36-year-old batter struggled quite a lot against short-pitched bowling.
The wicket at Perth is not to produce extra bounce, something that Indian batters aren’t used to facing on subcontinent surfaces. With Rohit, arguably India’s best when it comes to facing short-pitched deliveries, not playing in the match, Australians are expected to use this weapon quite a lot.
In fact, Australia’s pace great Glenn McGrath has asked his team to put the Indian team under early pressure, especially by targeting Kohli, and pin the tourists. While Kohli has traditionally responded to pressure situations well, his confidence isn’t on his side at the moment.
McGrath expects Kohli to hit another low if he departs with low scores in the first couple of innings.
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