Virat Kohli has been receiving advice from all quarters about his recent issues outside the off stump and there are many experts who are of the opinion that the Indian captain should stop playing drives for a little while and focus to play more off the back foot, rather than lunging forward all the time, but the former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir has a slightly different view on it.
According to Gautam Gambhir, a lot that has been said about Virat Kohli’s batting is “unfounded” and doesn’t really have any basis behind it. Virat only needs to ensure that the next time when he goes out there to bat, he leaves a lot of deliveries outside the off stump. If he does that, he will be fine, and he doesn’t need to limit any particular shot in order to find his mojo.
Gambhir was talking about India’s tour to South Africa in his recent column for Times of India and apart from Virat, he also talked about a lot of other issues related to India’s selection. The southpaw revealed that he was not in favour of Ajinkya Rahane being picked in the playing XI for the first test match at Centurion, but the way Rahane played there in the first innings, he might be given another opportunity now.
Gautam Gambhir wants one change to be made in India’s playing XI
Gambhir also threw his weight behind Cheteshwar Pujara and insisted that India’s no. 3 should be persisted with, despite the fact that he again had modest returns to his name in the Centurion test, after not having a great time with the bat in the recent home Test series against New Zealand either.
However, one interesting change that Gautam Gambhir wants to be made in India’s playing XI is the selection of Umesh Yadav ahead of Shardul Thakur. Umesh is a sort of home specialist for India as far as test cricket is concerned, and he plays very little whenever India plays abroad. The reason why Shardul gets preferred ahead of Umesh in the overseas tests is because of his ability to contribute with the bat.
Shardul’s contribution with the bat in the first Test at Centurion was minimal, and although he got a couple of wickets in the first innings, he didn’t look as accurate and lethal as the other Indian quicks. However, it seems unlikely that the Mumbai seamer will be dropped for the Wanderers test match.
