Shane Warne Opens Up On How To Dismiss Virat Kohli

Legendary spinner Shane Warne has given his views on how to get the better of Virat Kohli on the cricket field.

The way Virat Kohli is playing at the moment, he seems to be toying with the opposition. The India skipper, who is currently ranked number one in Tests and ODIs, is far ahead of his contemporaries even if only stats are concerned. Last week, he scored two consecutive centuries in the ongoing five-match ODI series against Australia to underline his reputation as the best batsman in the world.

At just 30, Kohli has already left behind some of the greatest names in the game with his unprecedented consistency in the game. He has already smashed 41 tons in ODIs and is only behind Sachin Tendulkar in the list of most tons in ODIs. The way Kohli is batting at the moment, it now looks just a matter of time before he breaks Tendulkar’s record of 49 centuries.

And with the bowlers across the globe struggling to get rid of Kohli, Shane Warne has come up with some words of wisdom for them.

“If you’re going to bowl to Virat Kohli, you either bowl at leg stump and protect the on side, or you bowl wide of off stump and you protect the off side. You cannot bowl at the stumps, because he can hit you both ways. So, I think you’ve to take out one side of the field. Protect just one side of the field, that’s how you bowl to very good players,” Shane Warne was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

The former Australia spinner also gave an example of how he would plot Kohli’s fall if he were to actually bowl to him.

“I’d be bowling wide of off stump and letting him try to cover drive with a slip, short cover and some protection out there. So then it’ll be very hard for him to get it over the leg side. That’s what I’d be trying to do and hopefully get a little bit lucky and he mis-hits one,” he said.

Well, teams across the world will certainly pay heed to Warne’s words given the way Kohli has performed against them in the last few years.  Since the start of 2016, Kohli has amassed 3985 runs in 59 ODI innings at an average of nearly 90 and and a strike-rate of almost 100.

The 30-year old, who is the reigning ICC player of the Year, has already scored three centuries in ODIs this year and is the leading run-getter in the ongoing series.