IND vs WI: "Virat Kohli Didn't Try To Play Any Airy-Fairy Shots"- Aakash Chopra

Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra lauded ace batter Virat Kohli for his brilliant century in the second Test of the ongoing series against the West Indies. Aakash Chopra highlighted that Virat Kohli demonstrated discipline throughout his knock and played only copybook cricket shots.

Virat Kohli became the first batter to score a hundred in his 500th international game during the ongoing Test at Port of Spain in Trinidad on Friday, July 21. The right-handed batter scored 121 runs off 206 balls, including 11 boundaries. The visitors were bowled out 438 runs in their first innings.

Also read: IND vs WI: Spectators Hail Virat Kohli Following His Impressive Knock On Day 2 At Port Of Spain

Virat Kohli Played Almost Copybook Cricket – Aakash Chopra

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra highlighted that Virat Kohli showed excellent shot selection by playing the balls close to his body and leaving the ones outside the off stump.

“If we talk about this knock, what all is praiseworthy? One thing is discipline. There are many facets to discipline. One is in the cricket he plays. You could see that at the start of the second day’s play as well,” Chopra said.

“The second new ball had come and he was leaving deliveries outside the off-stump, playing close to the body. He didn’t try to play any airy-fairy shots, didn’t step out to hit the spinners. He played just one sweep and that too because the ball was extremely ordinary. Other than that, he played almost copybook cricket,” he added.

Also read: ENG vs AUS: “If I Was Rubbish, I Wouldn’t Have Played 94 Games” – Jonny Bairstow Reflects On Criticism Over His Batting Form

It Was A Long-term Drought – Aakash Chopra

The cricketer-turned-commentator mentioned that Virat Kohli went through the most challenging phase of his career, but he regained his mojo after scoring a century against Afghanistan in the Asia Cup last year.

“Virat Kohli has scored a century. It was a long-term drought, especially away from home, and he has ended it now. He is just going from strength to strength if you see his career graph from August-September 2022 till date, the graph has been extremely different. He has scored runs consistently.”

“He scored runs against Australia in the last Test match at home, before that the pitches were extremely difficult. Other than that, if you see any format – two centuries in the IPL, a century against Afghanistan in T20Is, centuries in ODIs and two centuries in Test matches,” he concluded

Virat Kohli has smashed two centuries and a half-century in his last five innings of red-ball cricket. He scored 186 runs against Australia in the last Test of the BGT 2023 earlier this year. He registered scores of 14 runs and 49 runs in the two innings in the WTC 2023 final.

Also read: IND vs WI: “I Believe He Is Going To Become One Of The Best That Has Ever Played The Game” – Dinesh Karthik On Shubman Gill