Virat Kohli scored 63 across the two innings of the WTC final. (AP Photo)
Wasim Jaffer said he couldn’t understand why Kohli opted to chase the ball when it was pitched way outside the off stump.
Virat Kohli has garnered a lot of criticism following his poor dismissal at a crucial stage on the last day of the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Now, former Indian cricketer Wasim Jaffer has put his thoughts on the matter, admitting that he was left stunned after watching Kohli’s shot selection. India were 280 runs behind the required target of 444 runs at the beginning of Day 5, with Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane standing at the crease. But Kohli could not survive long, losing his wicket on a wide outside-off delivery by Australian pacer Scott Boland in the morning session.
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During an interaction with Sportskeeda, Jaffer said he couldn’t understand why Kohli opted to chase the ball when it was pitched way outside the off stump.
Virat Kohli pulled off a composed start to his innings on the fourth day after India lost their both openers early in the chase. He did not try much to go for a big shot. Instead, he waited for suitable deliveries, dishing out occasional boundaries. But according to Wasim Jaffer, Kohli’s approach was not the same on Day 5 when Australia decided to test him with some back-to-back wide deliveries. The trap finally worked when Kohli edged a delivery from Boland and ended up being caught by Steve Smith, concluding his innings at 49 runs.
While praising Kohli for his disciplined batting on Day 4, a disappointed Jaffer said, “I was quite surprised. Australia kept pushing him outside off stump, but he was composed and was leaving plenty of balls. I was a bit surprised by Kohli’s stroke on the fifth morning.”
During India’s first innings, Kohli managed to spend a brief tenure at the crease, scoring only 14 runs off 31 deliveries. He was completely baffled by a brilliant outswinger from Aussie pacer Mitchell Starc. The ball found the outside edge of Kohli’s bat and went straight to the clasp of Steve Smith at the slips.
Speaking about that dismissal, the veteran opener said, “He got a pretty good delivery in the first inning that was almost unplayable, and he could not do much about that one.”
After suffering a 209-run defeat against Australia in their second final, Team India will now shift their focus to the third cycle of the WTC. Rohit Sharma and Co will kick off their journey in the upcoming cycle with a two-match Test series against West Indies away from home. The opening Test will begin on July 12 at Windsor Park in Dominica.
