'It’s high-class bowling and it's not going to get any easier for him' - Michael Vaughan on Virat Kohli's struggle

It’s been 50 innings in international cricket since Virat Kohli last scored a century. Many believed that Kohli will end his century drought in England, as he was the highest scorer when India last toured the UK, the skipper has been fairly disappointing in the series. Kohli struggles against the moving ball is not new and despite him overcoming the same on the previous tour, England have exploited it brilliantly in the ongoing series.

Advertisment

In five innings Kohli has played so far, he has been caught behind twice of James Anderson and Ollie Robinson and once of Sam Curran. Kohli looked good in India’s second innings in Headingley, reaching his first 50+ score of the series, he edged one behind to Buttler of Robinson.

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan highlighted a technical flaw in Kohli’s batting and said he has looked clueless against the England bowlers, adding that it’s not going to get any easier for him in the remaining two games.

“Kohli has played at balls he could be leaving; he seems to have that slight technical issue I highlighted in these pages with the positioning of his back foot and he is not picking up the line of Anderson and Robinson. Kohli is not sure whether to play or leave and whether to set himself for the inswinger or not. He doesn't know what to do. It’s high-class bowling and it's not going to get any easier for him,” Hussain wrote in his coloumn for Daily Mail.

“He did go through a spell on the third day, admittedly against an older ball, where he was leaving it well. But it's harder to leave the new ball because it swings later, and he was out again on Saturday in a familiar manner,” he added.

While Joe Root has notched up three hundreds in as many games, his Indian counterpart has only scored 124 runs at an average of 24.80. The series is tied at 1-1, with the fourth Test set to get underway on September 2 at The Oval.