Home
India's batting legend Sunil Gavaskar dissected Virat Kohli's dismissal off Mitchell Starc's delivery on Day 2 of the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) final at the Oval on Thursday. Apparently, India's batting juggernaut couldn't tackle the surprise bouncer by Australia's pace spearhead Starc, which many termed it a 'difficult one' to handle, including Steve Smith. Kohli (14 off 31) failed to convert a good start to a big score and fell prey to Starc's off cutter that pitched on a shorter length and attained a sharp bounce. The ball brushed Kohli's gloves and Steve Smith made no mistake to pouch a fine catch at the second slip. Former Australia skipper Ricky Ponting said that it was a special delivery as Starc was practicing to perfect it to use it for the WTC final.
Gavaskar explains Kohli's dismissal
Meanwhile, Gavaskar explained how Kohli could have evaded that sharp bouncer. He said that Kohli was on front foot and he didn't have enough time to drop his wrists in time and leave the delivery directed by Starc to him.
In a conversation with Star Sports when Gavaskar was asked how could a batter deal with such a delivery from Starc, he said, "Off the backfoot".
"You could have… look again, today because of the fact that there are only two bouncers per over, most batters are onto the front foot. This means they are not able to get onto the backfoot and give themselves the extra yard where you could have probably let the ball go by dropping your wrists.
"Yes, it was a tough delivery because he was so committed to the front foot that he was not able to withdraw his bat at the last moment. If he had been on the backfoot. It looked like an unplayable ball, but if he had been on the backfoot, he would have been able to drop his wrists," Gavaskar added.
India's top-order fizzles out
Indian batting fizzled out on the second day of the WTC final against Australia at the Oval on Thursday, trailing their opponents by 318 runs in the first innings. After the close of Day 2, India are in a state of lurch as half of their side were sent back to pavilion to leave the scoreboard at 151/5. When India needed them the most, the likes of Rohit Sharma (15), Virat Kohli (14), Shubman Gill (13), Cheteshwar Pujara (14), Ravindra Jadeja (48) perished under pressure which has put the team on the brink of defeat. Ajinkya Rahane (29 off 71; not out) is the only experienced batter who is intact on the crease along with Srikar Bharat (5 off 14; not out) to keep India's hopes alive going into Day 3.
Gavaskar highlights India's top-order failure
"Yes, they could have possibly not had their bats high up in the air. One of the essentials of batting in England is to play the ball as late as possible.
"So, it means, if you are looking to play the ball as late as possible, your bat is nearer to the ball, not up in the air. Because it was up in the air, they allowed the ball to go through. With the bat up in the air, they were not able to bring it down when the ball nipped in," Gavaskar concluded.
MORE ON SPORTS TAK
'Shubman will learn, but Pujara…': Ravi Shastri lashes out at India's Test specialist for woeful shot selection on WTC final Day 2
Rohit Sharma's poor run in ICC finals continues, fails in ultimate Test as Australia gain advantage
