Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has said that Virat Kohli’s ‘stubbornness’ in finding no other way to overcome his weaknesses outside the off-stump was the main reason behind his batting average dropping to 48.
Kohli, who scored a century in the first Test, failed to build on that momentum in the second Test in Adelaide, falling for just 7 when he turned Mitchell Starc’s rising ball towards the slip fielder.
“An important reason why Virat’s average has dropped to 48 now is because of his unfortunate weakness outside. But more importantly his determination not to try another way to address it,” Manjrekar posted on X.
An important reason why Virat’s average has now dropped to 48 is the unfortunate weakness in the outside. But more importantly his determination not to try another way to deal with it.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) December 6, 2024
Kohli’s century against Australia last month came after a tough spell with the bat that saw him break into the 40s for the first time in 2022, five years ago.
India were bowled out for 180 at dinner on the first day of the pink ball Test against Australia on Friday.
India lost 6 wickets in the second session after 4 wickets for 82 runs at tea.
Rishabh Pant (21), captain Rohit Sharma (3), Harshit Rana (0), Ravichandran Ashwin (22), Jasprit Bumrah (0) and Nitish Reddy (42) continued their dominance in the session after tea. First day of the second test.
Fast bowler Mitchell Starc took 6 wickets for 48 runs for Australia.
After opting to bat, India got off to a promising start after losing the plot in the few overs before tea.
Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored a century in the first Test, was dismissed for zero runs on the first ball of the match, while his opening partner KL Rahul was dismissed for 37 runs.
(including agency inputs)