Ajay Jadeja has pointed out that the way Virat Kohli was out in the second T20I against England shows that the former India captain is being forced to play aggressively from the start.
Kohli only scored one run in the second game of the three-game series, which was played on Saturday, July 9. On the third ball he faced, he tried to hit a big shot, but he ended up skying the ball to Dawid Malan, who caught it well while running back from the point.
What did Ajay Jadeja say?
During a talk about the game on Sony Sports, Jadeja talked about Kohli’s dismissal.
“We haven’t seen anything like what we saw today with Virat Kohli, where it looks like someone is forcing him to go and hit. If you’ve been watching cricket for a long time and have seen Virat’s success and greatness for 10-15 years, it was shocking. I haven’t seen that for so long.”
The former Indian opening batsman brought up Kohli’s great record in T20I cricket without using fireworks. Jadeja explained:
“There is nothing wrong with playing aggressively, but if I show you the numbers, Virat Kohli has an average of 51 in T20Is and a strike rate of around 137. Others might have a strike rate of 140 or so, but no one else comes even close to his average of 20 runs.”
In 98 T20Is so far, Kohli has scored 3297 runs at a very good average of 50.72 and a very good strike rate of 137.54.
“You also need people like Virat Kohli” -Asish Nehra
Ashish Nehra said that Team India needs players like Kohli to go with their big hitters. He said more:
“If you’re talking about strike rate, all of the players around you have different styles: Ishan Kishan, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, and Dinesh Karthik. You also need people like Virat Kohli in the middle.”
The former India fast bowler also said that Kohli could improve his strike rate if he spent more time in the middle. Nehra observed:
“You don’t always need a strike rate of 145–150, and this player has a strike rate of 175–200 if he stands on the pitch. Virat doesn’t need anyone to tell him how to play if he’s on the team.”
Nehra finished by saying that it’s hard for any player to start their innings in fifth gear, but it’s especially hard for Kohli because he isn’t used to doing it.
