Batting coach Vikram Rathour was all praise for Indian skipper Virat Kohli’s magnificent knock of 79 in the first innings of the Cape Town Test on January 11. Kohli produced one of his best non-hundred innings against some high class fast-bowling from Kagiso Rabada & co to keep India in the game.
Having won the toss and opted to bat first, the captain and batting maestro saw his team slip to a precarious 33 for two when he walked in. He then put on a fine resurrection stand with No.3 Cheteshwar Pujara (43) and had another useful partnership with wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant (27) for the fifth wicket.
Eventually, however, Kohli ran out of partners quickly during the latter half of India’s innings and had to take extra few risks, one of which saw him try and guide Rabada through the off-side but nick the ball to the keeper. Either side of that, Kohli batted with great control and discipline at the crease, taking 201 deliveries for his score.
What stood out was Kohli’s patient attitude. Determined to leave the ball outside off, the batting great also picked the right balls to play his favourite cover drive. Kohli made 12 fours and one six during his long successful vigil at the crease.
“There was never concern with the way he (Kohli) was batting, I mean he was always batting well, I thought as a batting coach, I was never concerned that he is not batting well, he was looking very good in the nets, he was looking very good in the game also, he was getting starts,”
Rathour told the press after the play on Day 1, as quoted by PTI.
“One good change today, he was more disciplined, I agree with that, so he really looked good, really good solid and with a bit of (more) luck, he could have converted into a big one, but I am happy (with) the way he played,”
he added.
Rathour was comparing Kohli’s discipline in this innings with the ones he played previously on tour in the first Test in Centurion. The right-hand bat made a watchful thirty in the first-innings but then got out flashing at a wide delivery outside off. Kohli, unfortunately, repeated the same mistake in the second half, leading to debates over the merits of him playing the big booming cover drive.
But despite Kohli producing his best in Newlands, India folded for a less than ideal 223 on Day 1 of the series-deciding third Test. On a surface offering the seamers just enough seam movement to keep the batters in check, India’s batting appeared quite thin for a top Test side, especially the lower half.
Struggles of the batting unit once again threw light on the struggles of Ajinkya Rahane, who made only nine runs before getting out edging an incoming ball by Rabada. Rahane has made scores of 48 and 58 previously in the series, but the level of consistency expected from India’s No.5 has been missing. This trend that has been on display for a long time now.
Rathour wasn’t drawn into talks around Rahane’s spot in the line-up going forward but agreed that it is a concern that he has not been able to convert his starts. He also said they will be keen to give any player going through a rough patch an extra opportunity to try and regain his best form and consistency.
“We just hope as a team management that he comes good in one of these innings. I can assure you that this management will want to give one extra chance than one less, so we will always err on that side, we will of course give one more opportunity than we think somebody deserves,”
Rathour said.
