The first match of the three-match test series between India (IND) and South Africa (SA) is played at Centurion. By winning the draw on the first day, India scored 272 runs for the loss of 3 wickets, while the second day was devastated due to rain. It rained intermittently throughout the day, so the play of the second day had to be canceled. On the first day, the Indian team’s starters, Mayank Agarwal and KL Rahul, stayed afloat. Mayank played a brilliant 60-run inning, while Rahul was unbeaten at 122. In this match, Cheteshwar Pujara was fired without opening an account and captain Virat Kohli could only churn in 35 runs.
There is much discussion in the cricket world about Virat Kohli’s firing. In reality, Virat Kohli hasn’t marked a century in any cricket format after 2019 so far. In the first innings against South Africa, he looked good on pace, but suddenly returned to the pavilion after being caught in a slide. Former hitting coach Sanjay Bangar has made a great statement on Kohli’s form. He has also said why Kohli is failing.
Sanjay Bangar said during a conversation with a sports channel that the Indian captain prefers to play with his front foot. However, in the South African fields, you can’t just rely on the front foot. Bangar thinks Virat Kohli needs to go back foot and play. If Kohli does this, then he will be able to achieve great scores. The former coach said that when you rely more on the front foot, the bowler likes to play with you outside and the ball takes the outer edge and goes to the slip or to the goalie. In this case, the batter loses his window.
Virat Kohli last scored a century in 2019 during the test match played against Bangladesh in Kolkata. Almost 2 years have passed since then, but not a single century has come off Kohli’s bat. Everyone expected Kohli to score big in the first innings against South Africa, but he was only able to contribute 35 runs.
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