India vs England 2021: Virat Kohli Is A Better Player When He Bats Aggressively - Michael Vaughan

Former England captain, Michael Vaughan opines that Virat Kohli was not in his true elements in the first innings of the ongoing Test match against England in Chennai. According to Vaughan, Kohli was over-cautious in dealing with off-spinner Dom Bess, who eventually got him out.

Michael Vaughan points out that Kohli tried to defend a ball that was plenty outside the off-stump with an angled bat – instead of just unleashing a cover drive. It should also be noted that Bess bowled smartly to the Indian captain, with the wicket-ball, which took Kohli’s inside-edge to the short leg fielder was the widest he has bowled to Kohli.

“The manner of his dismissal today was weak for Virat Kohli. He defended the ball outside the off-stump with an angled bat facing towards wide extra cover. There is nothing in that shot. As a young kid playing the game, you don’t defend an off-spinner outside off stump because you want to be keeping the face of bat towards the ball. You play with an angled bat, and if there’s bounce, it goes to short leg. So technically, it wasn’t a great dismissal for Virat Kohli,” Michael Vaughan told Cricbuzz.

The 2005 Ashes-winning skipper reckons Virat Kohli, who played a 48-ball drudgery inning for 11 runs without a single boundary, should have danced down the track to attack Bess. Michael Vaughan believes that Kohli didn’t use his feet much against the spinners and was outdone by a relatively young off-spinner.

“I thought he was just trying to play today. I know that sounds simple. I think Virat’s a better player when he comes out trying to be aggressive. When his feet are moving and he’s looking to dance down to the spinners to put them under pressure. You’ve got to remember that Virat Kohli is facing Dominic Bess. He’s a work in progress. He’s young, he’s inexperienced. He’s got great character but this is Kohli against Bess,” he added.

Kohli will score 1-2 hundreds in this series: Michael Vaughan

The 46-year-old cricketer-turned-commentator predicts Kohli to score a hundred, maybe more than just 1, in this series against England to end his century drought. Kohli’s last three-figure score in Test cricket came in November 2019 against Bangladesh – he went the entire 2020 without a single international hundred.

 “I won’t be too concerned and I’m sure he isn’t concerned. Throughout the series, he will get 1-2 hundreds. I have no question about that,” the former skipper added.

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