Virat Kohli returned to the Indian team after resting from the West Indies and the Zimbabwe tours and looked in good touch in his 100th T20I which came in the second match of the Asia Cup 2022 against Pakistan in Dubai on August 28.
Kohli came into bat early as India lost KL Rahul for a duck and made 35 runs in 34 balls and looked in sublime touch before mishitting a ball from Mohammad Nawaz and getting caught at long-off.
Former batter Sanjay Manjrekar reckoned that Virat Kohli would make life easier for himself if he starts striking a balance between his backfoot and front foot aggression while analyzing the former captain’s innings against Pakistan.
“A couple of things that I saw which I liked and something that I have not seen him do much before. If you remember he played three pulls in that innings. There was one hook that went for six, but there were a couple of pull shots that he played and those are the things that I look for you know as an analyst,” Manjrekar was quoted as saying to SPORTS18’s show ‘SPORTS OVER THE TOP’.
“This is what excites me whether he's trying to do anything different. Just getting a little bit technical, before the ball was delivered. On two occasions, he actually had a trigger movement where he went back in the crease, which meant that I think finally somebody's got to him where he is now exploring the back foot play a little more,” he stated.
Kohli also received a life when Fakhar Zaman dropped a tough chance in slips even before he had opened his account.
“I saw that happen in England, but still mostly onto the front foot. There was a catch dropped again on the front foot reaching for the ball. So, if he starts mixing back foot aggression, I'm not saying back foot defence. Back foot aggression along with front foot aggression, life might just get better, and those signs were seen in that innings against Pakistan,” Manjrekar added.
Kohli is next expected to play in India’s last and final Group A match against Nizakat Khan’s Hong Kong on Wednesday, August 31 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
