India vs England 2021: VVS Laxman And Ashish Nehra Laud Virat Kohli For His Brilliant Knock In The 4th Innings

Former Indian cricketers VVS Laxman and Ashish Nehra have lauded skipper Virat Kohli for his brilliant knock of 72 albeit in a lost cause on a fifth-day track at the Chepuak against England.

On a day where Indian batsmen fell like nine pins against the likes of James Anderson and Jack Leach, Virat Kohli showed exemplary control, especially against the former, who displayed a masterclass in reverse-swing bowling on Tuesday.

According to CricViz, Virat Kohli’s false shot percentage against James Anderson was 0 as compared to his fellow batsmen, for whom it was 34. Overall, Virat Kohli batted with 99 percent control according to ESPNCricinfo’s ball-by-ball data and it only took an unplayable delivery from Ben Stokes, one that kept very low to dismiss him.

That is the best I have seen Virat Kohli bat in a Test. It took a grubber to get him.

— Jarrod Kimber (@ajarrodkimber) February 9, 2021

“Yes, absolutely and that is his ability. We have spoken about how Joe Root batted in this Test match, the same way, he might be a little disappointed how he got out in the first innings but he batted amazingly well in this innings. He showed the application and played the percentage shots,” said VVS Laxman on Star Sports.

Laxman further added that Kohli would be disappointed that he could not convert his half-century into a big hundred.

He might be a little disappointed that he didn’t score a century or didn’t delay the inevitable, because we were going to lose once Ashwin was out. But the application and the form and rhythm that was was seen today was amazing and it means he is going to hit one or two centuries in this series,” Laxman added.

False shot percentage v Anderson today:

Kohli – 0%
Rest of India batsmen – 34%#IndvEng

— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) February 9, 2021

Meanwhile, former fast bowler Ashish Nehra reckoned that if India gets to bat first in the upcoming Test matches then Virat Kohli can even go on to make a double-hundred.

Nehra further noted that the real hallmark of Virat Kohli’s knock was that he did not go for ‘airy-fary’ strokes even when the game was almost lost, stating that the Indian captain takes pride in not throwing his wicket away.

“You are talking about one or two centuries, I would say when India wins the toss, he will score 250 also. This is the special thing about Virat Kohli. When Ashwin got out, he knew that they will lose the match but he did not play any airy-fairy shots. He takes pride in scoring his own runs, that he should not get out. Anyone would have got out to the ball he was dismissed, it kept extremely low,” said Nehra.

Nehra further added that it is this desire to improve constantly that separates Virat Kohli from the rest.

“But he kept at it which you need to do on the fourth and fifth days on a subcontinent pitch. The desire makes this player different from others and it is not only here when he couldn’t score runs in England, very few people would have seen Virat Kohli lunging forward to play the defensive shots. To do that, you need the fitness,” added Nehra.

Also Read: India vs England 2021: Joe Root Becomes England’s Most Successful Test Captain