On June 18, Virat Kohli turned up for the optional training session and spent hours to fine-tune his technique ahead of the Super 8 match against Afghanistan. Kohli who was dismissed by USA left-arm pacer Saurabh Netravalkar for a golden duck had a throwdown session before facing travelling reserve Khaleel Ahmed. The 35-year-old was not satisfied with the results he got. It led to him getting frustrated as well.
Like skipper Rohit Sharma and other batters in the Indian batting lineup, Kohli has had his fair share of problems facing left-arm pacers when the new ball is moving around in bowling-friendly conditions. Against Mumbai-born Netravalkar he poked at a delivery but all he could find was a faint edge that went to the wicketkeeper.
In addition to facing Khaleel, Kohli faced left-arm chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav as well. In the Super 8 match against Afghanistan have left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi and left-arm chinaman Noor Ahmad in their bowling attack.
Farooqi’s stellar form
While Farooqi is yet to dismiss Kohli, he has been in good form barring the match against co-hosts West Indies at St. Lucia. Farooqi has 12 wickets from four games already. He registered a five-wicket haul against Uganda and then followed it up with a match-winning four-fer against New Zealand.
Economical Noor poses a challenge
On the other hand, Noor who plays for Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has dismissed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) opener once. While Noor has bagged just one wicket from three games in the tournament so far, he has been economical. The 19-year-old conceded just 20 runs from his quota of four overs in the high-scoring encounter.
Kohli’s numbers vs Afghanistan
The drop-in pitches in New York caused problems for batters. Opening the innings alongside skipper Rohit, Kohli has scored just five runs from three innings. However, he has a good record against Afghanistan in the format. The 35-year-old has scored 201 runs from four innings at an average of 67 including a century and a half-century. His strike rate of 171.79 is impressive as well.
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