Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra feels Virat Kohli didn’t match his lofty standards in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh, which India won by 2-0 after winning the second Test by seven wickets. Kohli scored 99 runs in four innings at an average of 33 in the series.
Kohli returned with scores of 6, 17, 47 and 29* in the series. The talisman scored a quickfire knock of 47 runs off just 35 balls in the first innings at Green Park, Kanpur.
Meanwhile, Kohli didn’t have the rub of the green on his side as he was dismissed after scoring 17 in the second innings at Chennai. Kohli had got an edge but decided not to go for the LBW review.
“Once the template was set, it’s like a run chase. In a run-chase, you don’t decide how you play, the scoreboard decides that, and that is why he is the chase master. When he came to bat, he was already at No. 5, which is not his original choice number, but the tempo of the game was predecided, so he played in that fashion only,” Aakash Chopra said on Colors Cineplex.
“It’s good that he scored runs but he didn’t look in his true colors. We have seen him batting with better control than this. He will score ugly runs as well. His failure is 40, our success is 40. The parameters are different,” the former India opener added.
Chopra noted that Kohli failed to time the ball to perfection as he normally does at the top level.
“When he plays, you expect the ball to always hit the middle of the bat. The ball didn’t hit the middle of his bat that much. However, I am also seeing from the perspective that he didn’t play anything after the T20 World Cup, went to Sri Lanka, and didn’t score runs in three innings. After that, you come here straight,” he said.
The renowned commentator reckons Kohli getting back amongst the runs was a positive for India even though he wasn’t at his absolute best.
“A great player, but he still needs to score runs because he will not play the T20Is and there will be a gap of 15 days again, so runs should keep getting scored. It’s good that he scored runs but the dominance, class and finesse were not seen in Virat Kohli’s these innings,” Chopra elaborated.
India will next take on Bangladesh in the opening T20I at the New Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Stadium, Gwalior on Sunday.
