Dean Jones: Virat has a bit of Sehwag in him
Former Australian cricketer and now commentator Dean Jones feels that the current crop of top batsmen possess the abilities of some of the cricketing legends in the past. Jones also opined that the Australian cricket team has become soft in their approach which has made them “sitting ducks”.
Speaking how much he loves watching Virat Kohli bat, commentator and statistics expert Dean Jones said, “There is a bit of Veeru [Virender Sehwag] in him. Perhaps, he has a slight weakness outside the off-stump in certain conditions, but he is getting over that,” reported The Hindu.
Jones also felt that Joe Root, who is also playing his 50th Test like Kohli, is a technically pleasing batsman and felt that
“Root is organised, technically pleasing. It’s been a fascinating journey so far for both Kohli and Root. If you look at the Fab Five of the present times — Kohli, Root, AB de Villiers, Kane Willamson and Steve Smith — they all go back and across much like what Don Bradman or Brian Lara did. So in some ways, we are returning to the old school of batting,” the 55-year old said.
Jones also gave his opinion on India's No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara by saying, “He is disciplined at the crease, builds his innings.”
But the former Aussie batsman felt that there is a certain aspect of Ravichandran Ashwin's game that can be improved.
“In these conditions, Ashwin is very, very hard to play. His record here speaks for itself. But he has gone for plenty of runs with far fewer wickets on good, true pitches. That’s an aspect of his cricket he needs to work on. He has to plan his dismissals on good tracks, set batsmen up,” Jones said.
But the former cricketer was critical about the Australian cricket team who have currently lost an ODI series and a Test series at home to South Africa.
“For years, we have been accused of sledging and finally it has got to us. These days we are not aggressive enough on the field. We have become soft and it is having an impact on our game. We have become sitting ducks,” he critiqued.
He added, “We don’t have players such as Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden and Mitchell Johnson who would make you feel that they own the ground or the pitch. That mindset is gone. The pitches in Australia have become so flat.”
“Let the phone call come,” replied Jones, when he was asked whether he would like to coach the Australian team.
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