ENG v IND 2021: ‘You don't have to play at those deliveries’, Gavaskar points out reason behind Kohli’s downfall

Virat Kohli is having a tough time with the bat in the ongoing England tour.

Anderson celebrating Kohli's dismissal in the first innings at Headingley | GettyIndia skipper Virat Kohli hasn't been at his best in the ongoing England tour. He has batted in five innings so far and has hit only one half-century.

After a duck in Nottingham, Kohli scored 42 & 20 at Lord's while he fell for 7 and 55 in the third Test at Headingley, which the visitors lost by an innings and 76 runs and allowed England to level the five-match series 1-1.

WATCH - "Okay, Thanks!", Virat Kohli nearly loses his cool in post-match press conference

Amid his failures, legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar has urged the Indian captain to not be bothered about playing and missing deliveries.

According to Gavaskar, there is no issue with Kohli standing outside the crease but it's his "intent" to score runs in all deliveries and ignoring the basics of not playing with hard hands that have resulted in his downfall so far.

"I think it's the shot selection. You have got to keep it simple. He has got 8000 runs, probably the last 6,500 runs he has got standing outside the crease. So I don't think he needs to make too many changes. I think it's just the shot selection," Gavaskar told Sony Sports.

"At the moment, we talk about intent. There is 'intent' question against Pujara. Here it seems the intent is to get runs. It means there are deliveries you're playing when you should be leaving those.

“So it's basically again a question of shot selection. You don't have to play at those deliveries. If you leave those deliveries, it's not going to matter. You still had a day to go and you were 140 runs behind the England team. If you have a look, these are deliveries on the 4th stump, there are no complaints. But there are deliveries at the 5th, 6th stump. These are deliveries he should not be playing."

Gavaskar further stressed that there is no harm in playing and missing in English conditions.

"See how far from the body the bat is, that is what is getting him into trouble. He is reaching out. So it's hard hands stuff that is getting into trouble. I don't think standing outside the crease is a worry. If you play closer to your body, you play and miss it. There is no harm in playing and missing it," he remarked.

The fourth Test will be played at the Oval from Thursday (September 2).

 
 

By Salman Anjum - 29 Aug, 2021

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