KOHLI SMOKE
England think they’ve worked out the Indian master... as long as they hold their catches
ENGLAND reckon they have still got Virat Kohli’s number despite his century-making success at Edgbaston.
But they will have to overturn a shocking buttery-fingered record behind the stumps in order to make it count at the worst catching ground in the country.
Joe Root (above) will pack his cordon with wicketkeepers in a bid to buck the trend of dropping the sort of catches that allowed Kohli to turn 21 into 149 in Birmingham.
With the man who dropped Kohli twice, Dawid Malan, axed, Root will have Alastair Cook, one-day international stumper Jos Buttler and Keaton Jennings (right) taking the first three slots, with young keeperbatsman Ollie Pope (above right) moving into the gully.
“Virat is a fine player and it shows when you give the best players in the world opportunities they don’t need many more,” said Root. “In the first innings, to create two half-chances and two clear chances was testament to how we’ve got good plans against him and found a way to potentially get him out.
“It is nice to know we are doing the right things, but it’s about taking those chances when they come along.
“Slip catching is a crucial part of Test cricket, especially with India being such a good side. You have to take those chances.
“I did think about moving in there myself, but I felt that this is a very solid cordon.
“We feel they are the best three guys to field there.” History is not on England’s side though with cricket data company CricViz revealing not only do they drop 31 per cent of chances in the slips wherever they play, but that all teams struggle at Lord’s taking only 70 per cent of chances offered. Against Pakistan earlier this summer England dropped five chances in one day at HQ. These are not the sort of numbers that will thrill the likes of James Anderson or indeed Chris Woakes who is in a battle with Moeen Ali to replace Ben Stokes in the starting XI. Woakes would be a much more straightforward like-for-like switch, and there will be a good covering of grass to help his case, but it will dry out quickly and off-spinner Dominic Bess did get plenty of turn in May against Pakistan. Pope is confirmed to bat at four on Test debut despite having never batted that high in a first-class match, and Root is confident they have made the right call, even with 36-year-old Ian Bell voicing his hopes of a recall. “Having seen him play a little bit, and the way his game is set up, I think it’s very much transferable for Ollie to bat at No.4 in Test cricket,” said Root. “I know that might be seen as quite a big jump, but he’s an exciting talent and he’s very mature for a young man.”