ENG vs IND: You Shouldn't Think Too Much If You Get Out To A Good Ball - Zaheer Khan On Virat Kohli's Dismissal To Ben Stokes
Published - 04 Jul 2022, 03:26 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:09 AM
Former Indian pace bowler Zaheer Khan said Virat Kohli shouldn’t worry too much about his dismissal in the second innings of the rescheduled fifth Test on Sunday. Kohli seemed in great touch with his willow, scoring 20 runs off 40 balls with four boundaries before he was stunned by a jaffa from England skipper Ben Stokes.
It was a good length delivery that extracted some extra bounce on the surface and made it unplayable for the former Indian skipper, who lunged forward to defend but the ball popped his glove and Joe Root, positioned at first slip, grabbed it seconds within keeper Sam Billings dropped it.
Virat Kohli was looking good and batting positively: Zaheer Khan
Zaheer, who played 92 Tests for India, backed the Indian batter and was more effusive in his praise for Stokes’ excellent delivery and said a batter can’t do much against a great ball.
“He faced a good delivery. That’s how I would describe his dismissal in short. I always believe that if you get out to a good ball, you shouldn’t think too much. Virat Kohli was looking good and batting positively. His footwork was good and he played some nice drives,” Zaheer said on Cricbuzz.
“Can’t do much about it. If a bowler gets you out with a good ball, what kind of analysis can you do for it? You have to give credit to the bowler. When you are at fault, that is the time you need to improve,” he added.
Cheteshwar Pujara will be very happy with his form: Zaheer Khan
The visitors ended the day with a 257-run lead in the second innings on the back of Cheteshwar Pujara’s calm and composed knock (50*) and Pant (30*) extended his support to the veteran in their 50-run unbeaten partnership.
Pujara continued his stellar run in the second innings of this Test series against England with scores of 12*, 45, 91, 61 and 50*. The Saurashtra batter averages 86.33 in the second innings in the five-match series after amassing 259 runs, which is a bit in contrast to his first-innings number in the same series – 31 runs in five innings at 6.20.
“Pujara will be very happy with his form. He played county cricket before this Test and prepared very well. That was a definite positive. The one criticism made of him is that he slows down the momentum sometimes after India gets a good start,” the former Indian pacer said.
“He has worked on that. He has always been the one to anchor the Indian innings. He has taken added responsibility in this match by batting out of position for the team,” he concluded on Pujara.
India are leading 2-1 in the five-match Tests and all they need is a draw in Birmingham to seal their first Test series triumph in England since 2007.
Also Read: ENG vs IND: Indian Commentators Are Quite Harsh On Virat Kohli
