India batting great Sunil Gavaskar appreciated the intent shown by Indian skipper Virat Kohli against England in the second innings of the ongoing second Test match in Chennai. After getting out for a duck in the first innings, Kohli started afresh the next time and played positively, scoring 62 off 149 deliveries.
Team India got a first-innings lead of 195 runs and decided to cash in on that with some more runs on Day 3. The England bowlers did manage to get early wickets of Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, and Ajinkya Rahane but Virat Kohli showed intent and kept scoring on every opportunity offered to him.
Sunil Gavaskar told Star Sports, "He (Kohli) played with positive intent and when your team has got that belief then you come into bat despite the fact that you might not have scored runs in the first innings. But look at his intent."
"He is either going right forward or right back. When he comes forward, he is smothering the ball, and when he's going back, he is giving himself time to see what the ball is doing," he added.
Virat Kohli didn't let go of any opportunities presented to him with loose delivery and looked to score runs off it. He used his wrists to smother the spin or give direction to the shot on Day 3. The Indian legend is in awe of the current Indian No. 4's wristwork and had a few more words of appreciation for Kohli.
"When the half-volley comes on, someone like Virat Kohli is never going to miss out on opportunities. Then again, using the wrist so well, turning with the ball and closing the face of the ball to make it go along the ground. This is classy batting," Gavaskar said.
Ravichandran Ashwin shone with the bat too as he shared a 96-run stand with Kohli. He never looked out of sorts on his home ground and stitched a wonderful partnership with his skipper. The duo not only kept the England bowlers at bay but also kept the scoreboard ticking.
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The 71-year-old said, "India has shown intent. It's what you have seen in this latest partnership - between Kohli and Ashwin. The way they have looked to score at every opportunity, the way they have stolen singles, they've covered ones into twos. They've run hard between the wickets."
"Looks, the boundary balls haven’t always been there and you won’t get easy boundaries in Test cricket. But what they have shown is this pitch is not the devilish pitch everyone is talking about. Yes, it's a challenging pitch and that's how it should be."
"The fact that India has scored more runs than England did in their first innings is an indication that it is not an impossible pitch," he concluded.
