Kohli, Bumrah lean patch showed in loss
NEWDELHI:A couple of weaknesses often witnessed on their overseas tours returned to haunt India’s batting in the first Test at Wellington—the uncertainty in leaving the ball in conditions where the ball moves and the compulsion to pull anything short when runs are difficult to come by.
New Zealand, with an experienced pace bowling line-up, including the likes of Tim Southee and Trent Boult, exploited these well, bowling with a plan that focussed more on back of a length with little room for batsmen to free their arms.
They removed inexperienced attacking opener Prithvi Shaw with the fresh new ball, exposing the most experienced batsmen, No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara and then No. 4 Virat Kohli, quite early. And with the ball moving throughout and bouncing more like a tennis ball, it was tough for Pujara to guess which one to leave and for Kohli to play his strokes as freely as he is used to.
This is an unusual lean run, albeit a small one, that the India skipper is enduring in New Zealand. He has scored just one halfcentury in nine international innings on this tour which is a bit low by his own lofty standards. He did play a couple of vital T20 knocks but the lack of big scores that he is used to could not be ignored during the post-match presser where he was asked about it.
Kohli, however, said that he is fine and batting well. “I feel sometimes the scores don’t reflect the way you are batting. That’s what happens sometimes when you don’t execute really well. Look, when you play so much cricket, and play for so long, you will obviously have 3-4 innings which don’t go your way. If you try and make too much out of it, it will keep piling on. I think it’s about staying in a good space.”
Kohli was sucked into playing a delivery outside the off-stump in the first innings by debutant pacer Kyle Jamieson and snapped up in the slips. In the second innings, he was frustrated for runs before Boult forced him into hooking a short ball that was edged to the wicketkeeper. “Almost every time we miss, he hits and he hits it well and gets boundaries. From our point of view, we are just trying to dry the boundaries for him. I think using the wicket and using the short ball was a good plan and being able to control his run rate. It’s nice to draw the air out of him,” explained Boult after scalping the India skipper.
Since the 136 against Bangladesh in the day-night Test in Kolkata last November, Kohli has failed to get a century in 20 international innings. His away Test record post the 2018 England tour, where he was brilliant, has been unflattering. He averages just 33.76 in seven Tests away during the period—in Australia, West Indies and this one in New Zealand. However, he scored a brilliant 123 in Perth, a Test India lost, but followed it up with 82 in MCG where his 170-run stand with Pujara set up India’s win.
Batting as a unit failed to rise to the occasion and provide bowlers with a total to defend. It is a surprise considering that this Indian team had scripted history, beating Australia in Australia for the first time only a season back, on the back of gritty batting. Pujara had patiently held one end up in the first Test at Adelaide to give India a total of 250 from where they won and drew first blood. In Wellington, India fell for 165 in first innings and the below-par total was not lost on Kohli, who said a 220-230-run total would have helped. Pujara himself couldn’t get going and had issues with his off-stump.
“In these places, the game is about the first 20-25 overs. You need to see those off. In Australia though, it is relatively easier to leave the ball as the ball comes straight. Here there is movement, it swings and also moves off the seam, so it’s tough for batsmen to leave. The batting coach should explain the technical adjustments needed,” explains former cricketer Manoj Prabhakar.
It is not just Kohli’s string of scores but also Jasprit Bumrah’s spells that have been a worry for India. Like Kohli, he was supposed to be India’s trump card. Bumrah, returning from a back injury, struggled initially, even with his famed yorkers, in the T20 series before getting his bearings back, taking six wickets in that series. However, he still hasn’t got the wickets we are used to seeing him get, going wicketless in ODIs and picking just one in the first innings of this Test. He has leaked runs too.
The fast bowler went 48 overs through the three ODIs and the first Test without a wicket. That is plenty for a bowler who gets a wicket every 45th ball in Tests and every 32nd in ODIs. In 19 innings after his debut series in South Africa, the first innings in Wellington was the first time that he went for more than three runs an over. He bowled 26 overs for just one wicket.
Fellow fast bowler Ishant Sharma hinted at teething problems bowlers encounter in New Zealand. After the second day’s play, he said that a first-timer— Bumrah is playing his first Test there—in New Zealand generally struggles because of windy conditions. Kohli felt the bowlers could have done a bit better. “We wanted to restrict the lead to under 100, the last runs from their batsmen made things difficult. But bowlers can still be more disciplined, they were not as happy with their bowling performance,” he said.
The answer for Bumrah could lie in New Zealand’s tactics— changing angles in case of no swing. Boult credited that for his success, like when he got rid of Pujara in the second innings by coming wide of the crease. However, for a bowler returning from a back injury this sudden shift could be a bit too much to ask for in such a short period.