IND vs SL: Gautam Gambhir Points Out Glaring Weakness In Virat Kohli’s Batting After His Dismissal For 45 In Mohali Test

Former India batter Gautam Gambhir has pointed out a weakness in former captain Virat Kohli’s batting approach after the right-hander was dismissed for 45 runs in the ongoing first Test match between India and Sri Lanka in Mohali, which began on March 4, 2022.

India won the toss as new Test captain Rohit Sharma chose to bat first. India went in with three spinners in Jayant Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja. Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah were the two speedsters.

Sri Lanka meanwhile chose to go in with only one frontline spinner in Lasith Embuldeniya and picked three pacers in Suranga Lakmal, Vishwa Fernando, and Lahiru Kumara, with Dhananjaya de Silva being the other part-time spin option.

India got a good start as Rohit Sharma (29) and Mayank Agarwal (33) added 52 runs for the first wicket. But then both got out in quick succession. Hanuma Vihari batting at no.3 and Virat Kohli in his 100^th Test, then added 90 runs for the third wicket.

In Virat Kohli’s Case, He Was Beaten On The Outside Edge- Gautam Gambhir On Ace Batter’s Weakness

Virat Kohli hit 6 amazing boundaries in his knock of 45 and was looking good as his fans expected him to continue on and score a 100 in his 100^th Test match. Unfortunately, Lasith Embuldeniya bowled a peach of a delivery that pitched on the middle stump and turned enough to clip the off-stump, while Kohli tried to play the in drift.

Speaking on the post-Tea show on Star Sports on Day 1 of the first Test, Gambhir said that the Indian batters need to revisit their basics. Gambhir also pointed out the mistakes Virat Kohli and opener Mayank Agarwal made while playing the spin of Embuldeniya.

“One of the major concerns is that the bat is in the line of pads. When that happens, it is difficult to play deliveries that turn away as well as those that don’t turn. If you keep your bat ahead of your pad, you will be beaten only on one edge. When you look at Mayank Agarwal’s dismissal, he was beaten on the inside edge. In Virat Kohli’s case, he was beaten on the outside edge. So, it is very important to have your bat ahead of your pad,” Gambhir noted.

Gambhir said that India’s preparations on facing fast bowlers, coupled with an excessive amount of limited-overs cricket has drifted the batters further away from the basics.

“This is usually taught in formative years. Nowadays, you play so much limited-overs cricket that you lose your basics, the good habits die down. You’ve concentrated significantly on fast bowling, so I believe Indian batters have a scope for improvement in tackling spin,” said Gambhir.

Also Read: IND vs SL: Mayank Agarwal Has Failed To Show That Much Consistency With The Bat, Says Parthiv Patel