Kohli blames white-ball cricket for leaving batsmen in a spin as India face England in final Test
Limited-overs cricket has left batsmen with a weak defence making them particularly susceptible on turning tracks, India captain Virat Kohli said ahead of the final Test against England which begins in Ahmedabad today.
India won the third Test inside two days after 30 wickets tumbled in five sessions in what was the shortest completed match since 1935.
Debates raged over the suitability of the pitch but Kohli has blamed poor batting by both sides in the low-scoring contest.
Kohli dismissed the “noise” around the track, saying seaming pitches never attract that kind of criticism despite witnessing similar collapses.
“It’s always been the case that spinning tracks come into focus way more,” Kohli, whose team are 2-1 up in the four-Test series, said during a video conference.
“When the ball seams on a particular pitch and teams get bundled out for 40-50-60, no one writes about the pitches. I would still maintain that the result in the last game was purely down to bizarre batting from both sides.”
Spinners claimed 28 of the 30 wickets in that match and left-arm spinner Axar Patel was player-of-the-match for his 11-wicket match haul.
“Having a strong defence is key to surviving on spinning tracks,” Kohli said. “Test cricket has become more result-oriented, thanks to the influence of white-ball cricket. But I believe one by-product is that it has also compromised a batsman’s defensive technique.
“Grinding out four-five sessions has gone out of fashion. Batsmen are not focusing enough on building a solid defence, because they have to switch to other formats.”
The 32-year-old said batsmen cannot just sweep their way out against the spinners.
“There are other ways to survive spin. For me, the best solution is playing a confident defensive shot, which won’t send the ball to short-leg or silly-point. That part of batsmanship has taken a back seat in today’s cricket.”
India will be without pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah who has skipped the match over personal reasons.
“Jasprit did not play the Test match that we won in Chennai,” Kohli said. “Having him is a big boost but having said that our bench strength is very strong at the moment.”
A win or a draw for India will secure the series and a place in the Test championship final against New Zealand. An England win could help Australia sneak in.
England opened the four-Test series with a 227-run victory. India rallied to level it in Chennai with a 317-run victory and won the third game by 10 wickets at Ahmedabad, where Axar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin dominated.
England captain Joe Root is confident his team can level the series. “We’ve got all the ingredients, all the pieces and all the skills to exploit and succeed in these conditions,” he said.
“It is important we harness that, have it in the front of our mind and be a bit braver actually; play with a little bit more freedom.
“It’s having that confidence to play the ball in front of you, not having the baggage from the previous delivery, not overthinking the pitch, trying to see things for what they are. You need to be able to put pressure back on the bowlers.”
Root said the decision to go in with four seamers in the daynight third Test was an error in judgment over the conditions.
“You look at the side for the last match and we read the pitch wrong the way we selected the team,” he said. “We didn’t envisage it would spin as much. If the pitch is anything like the last one, of course, Dom [Bess] would be a fantastic option on this surface.”
Grinding out four-five sessions has gone out of fashion. Batsmen are not focusing enough on building a solid defence VIRAT KOHLI
India captain