IND vs SA: I Feel India Definitely Missed Virat Kohli The Batter - Ashish Nehra
Former Indian bowler Ashish Nehra reckoned that the Indian team may not have missed Virat Kohli’s captaincy but it did definitely could have used his batting in the second Test in Johannesburg.
India lost at the Wanderers for the first time after Dean Elgar and co. chased down the target of 240 with seven wickets to spare. For the first time in a while, the Indian pacers looked deflated and weren’t up to the mark.
“When you talk about a player like Virat Kohli, there’s always a buzz, if the result doesn’t go your way, you do miss him. I feel India definitely missed Virat Kohli the batter. He always keeps up the intensity but I won’t say the team’s intensity was down,” Nehra stated on Cricbuzz.
Ashish Nehra cites the example of the Melbourne Test to prove his point
Although Kohli is quite the leader in Tests, his absence was made up for by the others who were constantly encouraging the team. Nehra took the example of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2020-21 where Kohli was missing but the others made up for it.
“You could hear a few voices; Rishabh Pant and J<!---->a<!---->s<!---->p<!---->r<!---->i<!---->t<!----> <!---->B<!---->u<!---->m<!---->r<!---->a<!---->h were constantly chirping. So, I won’t say that if Kohli had played this (Johannesburg) match, India would’ve won. If you look at the Adelaide Test (vs Australia), India were bowled out for 36 and Virat Kohli was there. Rahane scored a century in the next game and India won the game and also the series but Kohli wasn’t there,” Nehra mentioned.
Despite the loss, India still has a chance to win their first-ever Test series on South African soil when the two teams head to Cape Town for the final Test.
