Shastri: India ‘Need Virat Kohli’ as Bowlers Struggle — ‘He Could Do the Job of 3 People’

Shastri: There are cricketing tactics where a captain sets a trap in conjunction with the bowler to get a breakthrough. There are occasions of individual brilliance, from a bowler or fielder, that brings a wicket. There are also mistakes made by a batter. And there will be occasions when certain individuals get under the skin of the batters and frustrate them detrimental results. Virat Kohli was exceptional at doing that. A version of the modern-day Javed Miandad if you will, as he would get in the face of the opposition, engage them in a fight, and get rewards for it time and again.

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri said India were lacking this in the series opener of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Headingley, Leeds. After India had set England a stiff, but attainable target of 371, on a good batting surface, they could not make any inroads early on.

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While it was Jasprit Bumrah to made light work of Zak Crawley in the first innings and dismiss him in the first over, the England opening pair of Crawley and Ben Duckett, pushed back well, in the second innings.

The pair ensured that as England headed into the last thirty minutes of Day 4, they did not lose a wicket. On Day 5, when play resumed at 21/0, Crawley and Duckett did a fine job seeing off a probing spell from Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj.

Ravi Shastri, who was in the commentary box while Bumrah and Siraj were straining away to no avail, said that India needed someone like Kohli in the field to get things happening.

“India need someone to do a Kohli. Should be someone designated. Kohli could do it for 3 people. Get in the face,” Shastri said.

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Kohli announced his retirement from Test cricket a week before India announced their squad for the England tour. Kohli, a legendary batter and a legend in all formats of the game, also had a reputation as a feisty character in the field. He was always willing to pick a fight with an opposition player, and most felt this brought the best out of him.

Former England captain Michael Atherton, who was in the commentary box with Shastri, said that Mohammed Siraj could be the person who could be like Kohli in the field. Siraj loves to have a word with the batters, and enjoys getting under the batter's skin particularly when they are going well. However, on Day 5 of the Headingley Test, even Siraj seemed a little subdued.

In the first 90 minutes of the morning session, India did not get a pay off as Crawley and Duckett pushed the England score past the 100 mark. Duckett also brought up his half century, looking good against the Indian pacers ceding runs to sloppy Indian backup seamers Prasidh Krishna and Shardul Thakur.

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