ENG vs IND | Virat Kohli bears the extra burden of captaining India, reckons Nasser Hussain
After India’s poor performance with the bat in the first innings of the fourth Test at Oval, Nasser Hussain is of the opinion that Virat Kohli bears the extra burden of captaining India. He added that the English pacers have executed their plans well against the Indian batsmen in the series.
After losing the third Test at Headingley, Team India did not not have a favourable opening day of the fourth Test on Thursday. The visitors were bowled out for 191 in the first innings at The Oval in London. India were reeling at 127/7 at one stage but half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Shardul Thakur helped India to reach close to 200. Notably, none of the other eight Indian batsmen could cross the 20-run mark.
Virat Kohli scored his second consecutive fifty in the series, but he could not convert his innings into a bigger one. However, the 32-year-old became the fastest to score 23,000 runs in international cricket in his 490th innings. Following the end of day's play, Nasser Hussain feels that Kohli bears the extra burden of captaining India.
“Having said all that, we shouldn't be too hard on Kohli. The amount of cricket that both these sides play - more any other teams in the world - can be exhausting, and Kohli bears the extra burden of captaining India, with all the demands that come with the job," wrote Hussain for his column for the Daily Mail.
“It's no great surprise if he starts to play some tired shots outside off stump. The fact is, he still found time in an impossibly busy schedule to tinker with his game. And, for a while, it was a joy to watch,” Hussain said.
Hussain stated that English bowlers have executed their plans very well against the Indian batsman to make them struggle in the ongoing five-match Test series.
“You bowl a certain length to Rohit, but a bit fuller to KL Rahul. To Cheteshwar Pujara, you aim at the fourth stump. To Kohli, you drag back your length a touch. And with Chris Woakes making a welcome return to the side, England had the perfect attack for these conditions,” Hussain wrote.
“And what will concern India - at least until Shardul Thakur connected with a few - was the repetitive nature of their dismissals. Basically, England haven't had to rethink many of their plans,” wrote Hussain in his column for the Daily Mail after India were dismissed for 191 in their first innings of the fourth Test match at The Oval.
Further, the former England skipper stated that bowlers who bowl from a certain height have troubled Virat Kohli in his recent matches.
“But Robinson has got him three times in this series, which is a great feather in his cap, and it may have something to do with his release point. Since the start of 2020, India average only 18 against bowlers with a release point above 2.15m - the likes of New Zealand's Kyle Jamieson, as well as Craig Overton and Robinson here - so in that sense he's exploiting a bit of a weakness,” he added.