Virat Kohli’s Discipline From 2018 Tour Has Gone Missing, Opines Wasim Jaffer

Former opener Wasim Jaffer, who was part of the Indian squad that last won a Test series in England in 2007, opined on current captain Virat Kohli’s struggles with the bat in the ongoing Test series against the hosts and mentioned that his discipline has gone missing.

Kohli, who had roared to form on the 2018 England tour, scoring 593 runs in 5 Tests, has managed just 124 runs in three Tests on this tour with a solitary half-century to his name, which came in the humiliating defeat by an innings and 76 runs at Headingley in the third Test match. In fact, Kohli has gone 50 innings in international cricket without scoring a century now.

The Batting Discipline Virat Kohli Showed In 2018 Is Missing In This Series: Wasim Jaffer

Former India opener Wasim Jaffer said that Kohli needs to ‘rethink’ his pattern of dismissals and work on his temperament in a video on YouTube. Virat Kohli’s dismissals have been the same in every innings as he has gotten out fishing outside off stump and being caught either by the keeper or in the slips.

“Virat got a half-century but we expect a lot more because he’s a quality player, a class player. He probably needs to rethink the pattern of his dismissals in this series, he’s defending deliveries on the 6th or 7th stump. The batting discipline he showed in 2018 is missing in this series. He needs to fire in these remaining Tests because his contribution is very, very important for this Indian team,” Jaffer said in the video.

Meanwhile, Kohli’s poor run of form has also impacted his rankings in the latest update of the ICC Test batsmen rankings as he slipped down one spot to 6 as teammate and opener Rohit Sharma, who has had a decent run of form has moved to the fifth spot and into the top five Test batters.

England captain Joe Root moved to the no.1 spot after six years thanks to his amazing purple patch in 2021. In the ongoing series itself, Root has hit 3 centuries with the highest score of 180 and has already crossed the 500-run mark against India in the series with two more Tests to go.

Also Read: England vs India 2021: Rishabh Pant Needs To Spend More Time In The Middle- MSK Prasad