Batting great Sunil Gavaskar pointed out that playing across the line cost Virat Kohli his wicket in the first innings of the second Test match between India and Sri Lanka. Kohli was dismissed on 23 on Day 1 as the wait for his 71st international century continues. Playing at M Chinnaswamy Stadium which is now considered Kohli’s homeground after playing there for many years in IPL for RCB, the former Indian captain looked in decent touch but once again a spinner got the better of him to leave him stunned in the middle.
On a turning track, the ball kept very low when Kohli decided to play it across the line and got plumb in front of the wicket as Dhananjaya de Silva got the priced wicket at a crucial stage.
Gavaskar said that Kohli was always going to struggle when he went on to backfoot to play the ball on which he got dismissed.
“Today you could say that the shot he played shouldn’t have been played. The trajectory meant, he went on to the backfoot like the first Test in Mohali but this time he played across his front pad, which meant he was always going to struggle. If he missed it, he was always going to be a candidate for LBW, which is exactly what happened. He knew as soon as he missed and the ball hit his pads, he was right in front. He didn’t even look for a referral. So, playing across the line cost him today,” Gavaskar said in the post-Tea show on Star Sports.
Gavaskar further heaped praises on the Sri Lanka spinners which made things difficult for the Indian batters at the turning track.
“Sri Lankan bowlers have bowled well… Jayawickrama settled down after the first over. Every bowler is going to bowl the odd loose ball but they’ve stuck to their task well. The ball is gripping and turning so it isn’t gonna be easy for the batters,” Gavaskar added.
A counter-attacking 92-run knock of Shreyas Iyer helped India post 252 on the scoreboard in first innings which is labelled as a match-winning score at the moment.
On Kohli’s dismissal, former pacer Ajit Agarkar said that the prolific batter had no chance when the ball kept low.
“There’s very little that he could’ve done. That partnership with Hanuma Vihari was good. They put a litle bit of pressure. They cashed in whenever there was an opportunity. You generally try and play off the backfoot when the ball is spinning but that once just kept low and he had no chance,” Agarkar said.
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