'He shouldn't have played that shot. He knew it': Gavaskar offers crucial advice on how Kohli can come out of lean patch
It was Lasith Embuldeniya in the first innings of the Mohali Test, who dismissed the 33-year-old for 45, and it was Dhananjaya de Silva on Saturday who got rid of Kohli.
Former India captain Virat Kohli's “lean patch” continued as his century drought extended to 72 innings in international cricket. Kohli received a grand welcome from his fans at his adopted home ground, M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, but failed to put on a big score as he was dismissed for just 23 on the opening day of the pink-ball Test against Sri Lanka. And batting maestro Sunil Gavaskar was left disappointed with Kohli's approach towards that wicket delivery and also offered him a key advice on how to come out of this “lean patch”.
It was Lasith Embuldeniya in the first innings of the Mohali Test, who dismissed the 33-year-old for 45, and it was Dhananjaya de Silva on Saturday who got rid of Kohli.
India vs Sri Lanka Live Score, 2nd Test, Day 2
Speaking to Star Sports at the end of Day 1, Gavaskar felt that Kohli had repeated the same mistake of playing the wicket-delivery on backfoot and that he knew that he was going to struggle with his approach towards the ball.
“That shot he played wasn't the shot he should have played. Again, it was the trajectory. the way he went backfoot to Embuldeniya in the first Test...this time around, he played across the front pad. Which meant he was always going to struggle…and if he missed it he was going to be a candidate for LBW. That is exactly what happened. Even he didn't wait. He knew it. As soon as the ball it the pads he was right in front that is why he did not wait for the referral. Playing across the line cost him today,” he explained.
Kohli last scored an international century in November 2019 in a pink-ball game against Bangladesh in Kolkata. In Tests, He has played 29 innings since then, scoring 828 runs at 28.55 with six half-century scores.
The legendary batter also offered a key piece of advice on how Kohli can return to scoring ways.
“The conversation you are having with yourself is to try and eliminate those kind of shots that get you out. You are trying to have a conversation where you say that play as much as possible with the full face of the bat. And try and do that which will give him that much of a chance to get out of what you might call a lean patch,” he said.
Kohli will get another shot at reaching the triple-figure mark in the second innings after Sri Lanka crossed the follow-on mark on Saturday.
