Renowned cricket commentator and ex-India player Sanjay Manjrekar has pointed out a specific weakness in Virat Kohli's Test batting after the batting maestro's flop show in first innings of the second Test against Australia in Adelaide on December 6.
Sanjay Manjrekar's brutal dig at Virat Kohli
Manjrekar drew everyone's attention towards Kohli's struggle against deliveries bowled outside the off-stump. Kohli's persistent tendency to drive these balls, rather than adapting his technique, has contributed to his declining Test average, reckoned Manjrekar. Kohli scored just 7 runs off 8 balls before falling prey to Mitchell Starc in the 21st over. The disappointed Manjrekar while highlighting Kohli's weakness, clearly stated that the main reason why former India captain's batting average has dipped to 48 is his adamance to not try another way to tackle it. He stressed on the fact that Kohli's approach deal with the balls outside off has remained unchanged over the years, despite the lack of success it has yielded.
"One important reason why Virat’s average has slipped to 48 now, is the unfortunate weakness outside off. But more crucially his adamance to not try another way to tackle it," Manjrekar tweeted.
Australia took control of the match with a quick double strike from Mitchell Starc. He dismissed opener KL Rahul for 37 and then removed Virat Kohli for a quick 7, breaking a promising 69-run partnership between Rahul and Shubman Gill. The Australian momentum continued as Scott Boland bowled Gill, who was well-set, with a full delivery. India's collapse accelerated, and they lost their last three wickets for just 12 runs, handing Australia a big advantage. Rohit who came fourth down to bat, also couldn't do much with the bat as he could only score 3 runs. Nitish Reddy steadied India's boat with his gritty 42-run knock and took them to a total of 180.
Talking about the match, while replying to India's 180, Australia ended the Day 1's play at 86/1 with Nathan McSweeney (38) and Marnus Labuschagne (20) still intact on the crease.