Indian batting stalwart Virat Kohli, who was under the scanner for his string of low scores lately, slammed a half-century in the final game of the three-ODI series against England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday (February 12).
However, former England captain Kevin Pietersen refused to acknowledge the ‘back to form’ chatter as he criticized Kohli's dismissal to leg-spinner Adil Rashid for the second straight time in the series.
With the Champions Trophy 2025 around the corner, Kohli's form was a huge concern for India in the lead-up to the ICC tournament.
Having gone through an extended lean patch in Test cricket, the star batter managed to score only five runs in the second ODI against England at Cuttack on Sunday (February 9). He had missed the series opener due to knee injury.
In the third ODI, Kohli scored 52 off 55 balls with seven boundaries and one six, propelling India to 356/10 in 50 overs.
Speaking to Star Sports during the innings break, Pietersen was not happy with his former RCB teammate getting out to Rashid for the 11th time in his career. He reckoned Kohli should have registered a big score.
"He shouldn't be getting out to that ball. He's a much better player than that. And he will be kicking himself. That ball is bowled slowly through the air. So he shouldn't have been over-committed on the front foot. He should have played back to it. He should have punched it into the offside, and he would still have been batting and he probably would have gone on to get a big score," Pietersen said.
Pietersen also suggested that England star Joe Root would never lose his wicket to a delivery like that as he told Kohli to watch his contemporary.
“You can see where it hits from side on angle. That hits the top of the bat. That hits the splice of the bat. Which means that he got his lengths wrong. That's nowhere near the middle of his bat. Have a look at that,” Pietersen stated.
“That's where you can see where the ball has made contact with the bat. Look how far forward his bat is in front of his pad. This means he's got the length wrong and he's too good a player to get out like that. He shouldn't be doing it. He shouldn't be giving Adil Rashid that chance to get his wicket. You watch Joe Root. He will never be over-committed on the front foot like that. No way,” he further remarked.
