Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli. Image: BCCI

Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik said he was surprised to watch Virat Kohli’s batting position in the crease against spin bowlers in the ongoing second Test between India and Sri Lanka. Kohli was dismissed twice LBW in both innings of the second Test.

In the first innings, the senior Indian batter failed to read Dhananjaya de Silva‘s off-breaker, which spun and the batter was undone by the extra bounce as he was trapped before the wickets.

Virat Kohli scored 23 & 13 in the second Test

Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli. Image: BCCI

Kohli scored 13 off 16 balls in the second innings before Sri Lanka’s left-arm spinner Praveen Jayawickrama beat the star Indian batter by pitching his delivery low and the ball hit him on the back pad in front of the stumps.

IND vs SL: Dinesh Karthik surprised with Virat Kohli’s batting stance against spinners

Karthik pointed out that Kohli was standing outside the leg-stump to avoid getting trapped before the wickets but the balls that turn in end up getting him dismissed.

“I’m pretty surprised as to where he is standing in the crease. He is standing touch outside leg stump. And that you do when you are a little worried about LBW. But that in many ways actually causes you more trouble the moment you stand outside leg stump because almost all balls you need to meet across,” Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

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Dinesh Karthik, ICC T20 World Cup 2021
Dinesh Karthik (Image Credit: Twitter)

“But when you stand in middle or between middle and leg stump, there is a good chance that the balls that are drifting into you say the middle stump then you end up playing a lot straighter.

“The moment you stand outside leg stump, everything you do tend to go across and so the one that comes in has the potential to get you lbw. So that is one thing that I have been very surprised with the strategy he has used to play spin,” he added.

Kohli’s dismissal for a low score meant that he once again failed to reach the three-figure score and his much anticipated and long-awaited 71st international hundred was eluded to him in the Sri Lanka Test series.

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