Australia's legendary batter Matthew Hayden believes that Virat Kohli's strategy of batting outside his crease to counter Australian bowlers is not helping him rather backfiring him. Kohli's dismissal on Day 1 of the first Test in Perth, caught by Usman Khawaja off Josh Hazlewood, highlighted the risks associated with this approach. The rising delivery surprised Kohli (5 off 12), who was playing outside his crease, leading to his downfall.
Matthew Hayden dissects Virat Kohli's dismissal
This dismissal only extended Kohli's lean patch as the batting juggernaut kicked off the Border-Gavaskar Trophy on a disappointing note. Meanwhile, analysing Kohli's technique, Hayden suggested that batting outside his crease is forcing him to play at more deliveries, increasing the chances of making errors.
“I think what his base or foundation solution to fast bowling units like Australia, exposing just bowling a 6 or even 7 stump line closer to the ball, which meant he actually came out of his crease and batted off stump. But the trouble is when you get yourself into that position, you've also got to maintain that you're allowed to leave the ball. See, when you're in that batting position and you're closer to the ball, it actually means then you're forcing yourself to play at every ball,” Hayden said on Star Sports.
Hayden further explained that Kohli's strategy of batting outside his crease had put him in a difficult position. He pointed out that once Rishabh Pant and Nitish Reddy started scoring runs with a more conventional approach, it became evident that Kohli's strategy was not the most effective.
“Test match cricket is about how well you leave the ball, not about how well you hit the ball. I mean, you saw the benefits of batting time through the middle. 50 overs this wicket today for India when Nitish Reddy was batting and Rishabh Pant was starting to look easy," he added.
"You could tell the brow was less furrowed and they were starting to make advances on the game. That's test match cricket. It doesn't have to be over in a session. So to me, there are kind of, I like the strategy actually, definitely not critical of it that way, but you've backed yourself into a corner if you think I've got to hit every part of this now,” Hayden further stated.
India dominate Australia on Day 1 of Perth Test despite batting fiasco
India, after winning the toss and opting to bat first, were bowled out for a meager 150 runs. Josh Hazlewood was the pick of the Australian bowlers, claiming 4 wickets for 29 runs. In response, Australia's batting lineup was decimated by India's bowlers, particularly Jasprit Bumrah. India restricted Australia to 67/7 at stumps, with Bumrah taking 4 wickets for 17 runs. Australia now trail India by 83 runs with just three wickets remaining.
