Kohli's negativity creating problems for India, says Mark Waugh
Mark Waugh has said that Virat Kohli has not been playing his natural game but rather a negative version that has rubbed off on his team-mates as well. The Australian was also critical of the pitch saying that the 'natural inconsistent pace and bounce was going to be a problem for the batsmen.
Kohli came into the series on a high having scored four double hundreds in as many series but the 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been disastrous for him so far - he has a total score of just 25 in three innings. The Indian captain was very tentative in his innings and never looked comfortable on the pitch and was eventually dismissed for 12 off 17 balls when he was caught leg before by Nathan Lyon.
"That's a brain fade. I know the ball before bounced and hit him on the thigh-pad and he's a bit worried about those two men on the leg side, but that's bread-and-butter for an Indian batsman, a class player. You just tuck that off the hip," Waugh told Fox Sports.
Waugh called it uncharacteristic of the Indian skipper and attributed the streak to negative play from Kohli.
"It was very un-Kohli like. He made a point of saying 'we need to play with much more intent in this game' but he's been the prime example of not actually doing that. He's just thinking negatively because there are men around the bat. He's thinking if it bounces he might get an inside edge. As a batsman, you can't think like that.
"He can hit that ball in his sleep for runs. He's obviously thinking is a little bit negatively and that's rubbed off on a few of his teammates. Most of them have looked very tentative at the crease today. Those (dismissed) Indian batsmen, they would be disappointed with how they got out.
"In between those dismissals you don't see the balls where one is sort of skidding and another is sort of standing up off the pitch. So there's a bit of mental disintegration in between those balls."
It was a repeat of the Pune performance as the Indian batsmen lost their last five wickets for just 15 runs as Nathan Lyon ran riot.
The Bengaluru pitch was supposed to be better than the "poor" Pune one but it seems to have its own set of problems. Waugh believed that the Indian batsmen were very hesitant at the crease with the pitch compounding their low morale from the Pune loss.
"This pitch to me, it's not as bad as Pune but it's got that natural inconsistent pace and bounce in it – you see some balls turning, some keeping low. I don't think it's a great batting wicket, it's disconcerting for the batsmen," Waugh said.
"(The variations are) definitely playing on the minds of the Indian batsmen, they're tentative, they're not their usual assured selves against the spinners. That's coming from losing the first Test but also the conditions, you're just not sure if it's going to turn or not and you're watching the ball looking to defend rather than score and put the pressure on."
0
0
0
0
0
0
Comments
Sign up or log in to your account to leave comments and reactions
0 Comments