Virat Kohli Puts in Extra Effort in nets to counter spinners ahead of Second Test against Australia

Virat Kohli

At least 30 minutes before the Indian team bus arrived at the Ferozshah Kotla stadium, a shining jet black Porsche pulled up. Virat Kohli emerged and entered the locker room. He was outside, dressed, and moving for the goal within minutes. He arrived early for a session because he wanted more at-bat time.

He began by knocking out some net bowlers and the traditional throw-downs. When a young man who was bowling military medium was mockingly dragged off his backfoot, he requested spinners.

He said, “Spinners ko bulaao,” and proceeded to the opposite net to practise tackling the spinners. Kohli examined the abrasion made on the practise strip before adding more with his boots. In fact, hitting instructor Vikram Rathour pointed out specific spots where he could imprint and let the ball communicate.

The goal was to combat the surface fluctuation that occurs naturally when a ball is dropped in the rough and has the potential to go in any direction.

India The skilled left-arm spinner Saurabh Kumar from Uttar Pradesh did pose a few incisive queries on a regular basis.

Kohli was put on the back foot during one delivery. After being pitched, the ball didn’t bounce. It was a “shooter” of a kind that didn’t ascend. Kohli regarded the ground while grinning dryly.

There were two off-spinners who tossed high and occasionally mixed it up with flatter trajectory: net bowlers Pulkit Narang and Hrithik Shokeen.

He drove Shokeen and Narang in that session, and he would frequently come down the track to cover the rough. Some of the rounds weren’t off the meat of the blade because he wasn’t a very smooth shooter to begin with.

Feroz Shah Kotla will be just as slow-turning as Nagpur, if not slower, and Kohli’s difficulties against spinners have been serious. When he attempted to manoeuvre off-spinner Todd Murphy in the Nagpur Test, he was caught down the leg side.

Although there was a layer of grass, anyone who has observed how the Kotla pitch functions will tell you that it is more important to maintain the surface’s solid grip.

However, during the morning session, there will be some moisture below the surface, which will benefit the bowlers. However, Kotla is a particular type of pitch where it is difficult to both score runs and take wickets.