Virat Kohli was dismissed by Jofra Archer for just 5 runs during the first ODI between India and England at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Tuesday (July 14).
Coming in at No. 3, Kohli faced 6 balls and managed one boundary before being trapped LBW by Archer in the 9th over. While playing a full and straight delivery, the star batter shuffled right across on the flick and missed it completely as the ball truck bang in front of the middle stump.
Kohli’s wicket reduced India to 48/2 in the chase of 259, but skipper Shubman Gill’s classy 80 off 75 balls and an unbroken 102-run stand between Axar Patel (57*) and Washington Sundar (52) took the tourists over the line with six wickets in hand and 28 balls remaining.
Reflecting on Kohli’s dismissal, former India cricketer Ambati Rayudu pointed out that because the veteran campaigner was returning to international cricket after a long break, his depth perception and anticipation were naturally tuned to back-of-the-length deliveries, causing him to misjudge and miss the fuller ball.
Rayudu reassured fans that once Kohli gets a few more matches under his belt, he will easily find his rhythm and play his signature shots again.
"It happens at times when you come to play international cricket after a long gap, or if you come to play against extra pace. Your vision is always on the length. You miss the fuller ball at times. When he plays a little cricket, he will hit this ball easily through midwicket. Just like Shubman Gill hit a four, Virat Kohli will also be seen hitting that," Rayudu said during a discussion on Sony Sports.
Rohit Sharma was dismissed shortly before Virat Kohli. The senior opener managed to score 11 runs off 21 balls before mistiming an attacking shot off Sam Curran, caught by Harry Brook at mid-off.
In the same discussion, India all-rounder Shardul Thakur mentioned that Rohit could not get his shot selection right against Curran whereas Kohli was deceived by Archer.
“When you are playing after such a long time, this (Rohit’s) shot was probably not required because Shubman Gill was scoring runs from the other end. So Rohit could have spent more time,” Thakur observed.
“I felt Virat missed a straight ball because Jofra was doing a lot of back-of-the-length bowling before this. He even attempted a bouncer. So it was a full delivery which he missed,” he added.
Kohli and Rohit will return to action in the second ODI against England in Cardiff on Thursday (July 16).
