Without taking the name of Virat Kohli, Afghanistan’s head coach Jonathan Trott made a point about the India cricket legend quite clear ahead of the T20 World Cup Super Eight stage in Barbados.
Kohli’s form hasn’t as well as it was in IPL 2024. The Orange Cap winner had scored 741 runs for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru. In the group stage matches, opening batsman Kohli recorded scores of 1, 4, and 0 against Ireland, Pakistan, and the USA respectively.
In each of those matches, Kohli was dismissed caught, struggling with deliveries wide of the stump. Against Ireland, he edged a thick outside that was caught by the third-man fielder.
In the subsequent match against Pakistan, he couldn’t rein in a wide, full-length delivery and ended up scooping it directly to the point fielder. The feared delivery that angled across from left-arm seamer Saurabh Netravalkar led to his undoing in the match against the USA. Deliveries outside the off stump have consistently been a challenge for Kohli.
This well-known vulnerability could be exploited by Afghanistan, particularly with Fazhalhaq Farooqi, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker and a left-arm seamer, in their ranks. It is clear that they will attempt to capitalize on this by targeting Kohli with the new ball in that specific area.
Trott, when asked about plans against Kohli, did not name the Indian skipper, and said, “We always look at the last couple of innings and see how they go and if there’s any trends and those sorts of things when planning for opposition. So yeah, but obviously there’s a history of the player as well that you take into account and past experiences of playing against him.”
“So, everything’s taken into account, not just the recent form. But yes, obviously you do notice things if it hasn’t been in any form and you look to find ways where you can sort of use that information or exploit that and hopefully continue that sort of form,” added the former England batter.
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Published: 20 Jun 2024, 05:23 PM IST