Mushtaq Ahmed recalled planning Kohl's wicket when he was working with England.
Legendary Pakistan spinner Mushtaq Ahmed revealed that he had recently interacted with India batter Virat Kohli when he was at the gym gearing up for the ongoing series in England and advised India’s batter to work on his front foot movement.
The former England and Pakistan bowling coach also admitted that Kohli applied his advice to his batting on the ongoing England tour, where the dashing right-hander’s struggle with the bat continues.
Mushtaq Ahmed said on ARY News’ show Bouncer: “Once Virat was training in the gym and he himself came to me and asked how’s everything is going and after a brief conversation I told him a couple of things and he’s a very smart and a good listener.”
He further added, “So, I told Virat that the initial 10-15 runs you score, your front foot lands straight on the pitch and when you try to drive the ball and as your foot is not in the direction of the ball, it takes the outside nick even on a flat surface.”
The legendary spinner also revealed that Kohli acknowledged his advice and applied it during the England tour.
He further noted, “After that, I noted that he began to shuffle across the pitch to get the ball in the middle but as you know when a batter shuffles especially when it is swinging, he lost track of where his off-stump was. He was carefully listening to all my points and acknowledged me, ‘That’s a very good point Mushi bhai and I would work on it’.”
Recalling his stint with England when he used to plan against Kohli, Mushtaq said: “We made a policy for him [Kohli] during India’s white-ball tour and I told the English management that being an Asian coach, I think we should set a tight field for him for his first 15 runs. Let him hit the ball over mid-off, mid-on, or cover but he won’t be able to do so since he is afraid.”
He signed off by saying, “His confidence level gets boosted by getting a couple of quick singles, which he achieves by tapping the ball towards mid-off and mid-on in the early phase of his inning. So, I told them that we should take chances on him during his first 15 runs since there is a high chance that he would get out after playing a poor shot.”