Ahead of India’s tour to Australia, Virat Kohli has come under the scanner for not being able to match up to his lofty standards in Test cricket for the past few years. Ever since 2020, the star batter has just scored two Test tons while he has managed to cross fifty just once in the six Tests so far in 2024.
Kohli was troubled by the Bangladesh and Kiwi spinners in the recently held home Test season, returning with scores of 6, 17, 47, 29*, 0, 70, 1, 17, 4 and 1. As a result, his Test average has dropped to 47.83. He currently has 9040 runs to his name from 118 Tests, including 29 centuries.
Amid his struggles, former wicketkeeper Ian Healy has asked the Australian quicks to target Virat Kohli with short-pitched deliveries.
“Body bash. Bowl at the back armpit, that’s the right arm as a right-handed batsman … and it’s got to be hot,” Healy told SENQ Breakfast.
“Have him jumping at times if he wants to ride those deliveries – ducking, weaving or bending backwards.
“Get that short leg position right next to him on the leg side and if you need a bumper, it’s got to go at the badge. He might try to bust out of a hard spell with a hook shot or pull shot and that will be hard to control if it’s badge height.”
Kohli’s Test record may have slumped, but he loves the rivalry against Australia and has played some of his best knocks Down Under. The veteran campaigner has played 25 Test innings on Australian soil, amassing 1352 runs at an average of 54.08 with six hundreds and four half-centuries.
Healy said he is looking forward to how the Aussie pacers will bowl to Kohli in the series opener at Perth.
“The first matchup I’m looking at is how our quicks can bowl to Virat Kohli, and I think they should target his front pad quite often,” he remarked.
“He sits that front foot there and he can play from anywhere – he can play square on the off-side, he can whip onto the leg-side or he can rock back … but they’ve got to look for any sort of insecurity in his form and maybe target that front pad.
“But don’t do it every ball because he’ll get used to it … it’s the impact ball that has to be on the front pad after he is set up with seam.”
The marquee Border-Gavaskar Trophy is slated to get underway on November 22 at the Optus Stadium and the action will then shift to Adelaide (December 6-10), where both teams will face each other in a Day-Night Test. The last three Tests are set to take place in Brisbane (December 14-18), Melbourne (December 26-30), and Sydney (January 3-7).
