Virat Kohli is a fantastic player, his struggle against left-arm seam is a coincidence: Ross Taylor
Left-arm delivery is quite difficult to ace for a right-hander. A batter has to open up his front leg, angle the shoulder towards mid-on and keep the off-stump in mind.
Most of the time, it opens the corridor and if the bowler gets the line right, the ball hits the target. Virat Kohli’s struggle against left-arm pace is no longer a secret. Recently, a Mitchell Starc in-swinger nipped in and trapped Kohli in the first ODI.
With the World Test Championship (WTC) Final set to be held between India and Australia, former New Zealand cricketer Ross Taylor backed Kohli, saying the right-hander’s problem is nothing more than a “coincidence”.
Virat Kohli has been dismissed by left-arm seamers 102 times across all formats (15 bowled, 54 caught by a fielder, 19 caught behind, 2 stumped, 12 lbw). However, Taylor pointed out that Kohli has been a fantastic player for years and will work on “whatever he feels he needs to”.
“I think it was more of a coincidence than anything. Virat has been a fantastic player against all bowlers,” Taylor told India Today in a special interaction arranged by the ICC. “Sometimes a bowler just by coincidence can have your number.
“A left-arm seamer, I guess being lbw is the danger ball swinging back but Virat has been a fantastic player for years and I am sure he will be working on whatever he feels he needs to be. You look at the setup, I have full trust in Virat and what he does.”
Ross Taylor, who was part of the New Zealand team that beat India to win the first-ever WTC Final, further said that team India will be looking at Kohli to excel in the WTC Final against Australia. Taylor also said that if Australia fail to get the wicket of Kohli early on, then the right-hander can go on to score big runs.
“I am sure him coming in at no.4, Indian players will be looking to him but at the same time the Australian team knows they need to get Virat out early to put that Indian middle-order under pressure. If they don’t, he can score big runs and quick runs,” Taylor said.
Virat Kohli has been among the runs this year, having ended his more than three-year Test hundred drought during the fourth Test against Australia in Ahmedabad. The former India captain also an ODI hundred earlier this year.
The World Test Championship Final between India and Australia will be held from June 7 at The Oval.