Former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar talked about Virat Kohli’s dismissal in the first innings of the ongoing first Test against South Africa in Centurion.
The wait for Virat Kohli’s 71st international century continues as the Indian Test skipper was dismissed for just 35 runs in the ongoing Boxing Day Test, falling to Lungi Ngidi.
Coming to bat at No.4 after losing Mayank Agarwal and Cheteshwar Pujara on two successive deliveries, Virat Kohli looked in great touch and played some fluent drives.
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With the sort of determination and patience he played, many fans felt that Kohli will end his century drought and will return back to scoring ways like he used to do. But that wasn’t the case as the Indian skipper chased a wide-ish half-volley from Lungi Ngidi and only managed an outside edge to see himself back in the hut for his 94-ball 35 runs.
Analyzing Virat Kohli’s dismissal in the first innings of the first Test against South Africa, Sanjay Bangar pointed out that it was a mental error in the execution part.
He added that the Indian skipper relies on driving the ball but against quicker attacks on seaming pitches he needs to have one more game and can’t only rely on front foot shots as bowlers will continue to drag him wider and find the outside edge of his bat.
“Yeah, could well be a mental error in the execution part at least as far as him going after that wide half-volley is concerned. But for me, he relies on driving the ball. Against quicker attacks on seaming pitches, you require one more game.
“You can't only rely on the front foot shots. If he only relies on that particular shot, the bowlers will continue to drag him wider and wider and hope they find the outside edge,” Sanjay Bangar said on Star Sports.
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Sanjay Bangar feels that Virat Kohli needs to develop his back foot game as he seems to be preoccupied with scoring runs off the front foot.
“It will be worth it if Virat Kohli can give a thought of developing some sort of a response of the back foot as well. Otherwise, he just seems to be preoccupied with scoring runs off the front foot," he said.
Notably, Virat Kohli has failed to hit a century since 2019. His numbers in Test cricket in the last two years are not promising as per the player of his caliber. The Indian Test skipper since 2020 has scored only 599 runs in 13 matches at an average of 26.04.
(Star Sports inputs)
