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Cricket Players'Look at Virat’s sixes': Former Pakistan captain fumes at middle order, wants players to take lessons from Kohli
Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls in the contest, and dragged India to victory after they were reduced to 31-4 in 6.1 overs.
Pakistan didn't have the best of start at the T20 World Cup, losing the opening encounter against India by four wickets in Melbourne on Sunday. Babar Azam and Co., who were invited to bat first by Rohit Sharma, got off to a worst possible start as they lost their captain and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan cheaply.
However, Iftikhar Ahmed and Shan Masood perfectly stitched the rescue work, taking Pakistan to 91-3 in 12.2 overs, before Mohammed Shami broke the partnership, trapping Iftikhar LBW for 51(34). Despite the platform laid by the two, Pakistan once again lost control in the proceedings and soon found themselves reeling at 120/7 in 16.4 overs.
However, a gritty half-century by Masood ensured Pakistan piled a challenging 159/8 on the board, a target which India chased down in the final ball of the match.
The quick breakthroughs exposed Pakistan's middle-order woes and Shoaib Malik, veteran Pakistan middle-order batter who is not part of the World Cup squad, wants the players to draw some lessons from talismanic India batter Virat Kohli.
Kohli scored an unbeaten 82 off 53 balls in the contest, and dragged India to victory after they were reduced to 31-4 in 6.1 overs. Kohli built his innings in a well crafted manner, initially maintaining a cautious approach and then scoring briskly after spending a substantial time in the middle.
Praising the former India captain, Malik during an interaction on A Sports noted: “Look at Virat’s sixes. He was striking those at the end as if he is a power-hitter, which he is not. But the amount of balls he faced, he had an idea of what the bowlers were doing and how the pitch was behaving.”
Malik in particular pointed out the way Haider Ali got dismissed. The batter, who scored 2 off 4 balls, was removed by Hardik Pandya while playing a cross-batted shot which went straight into the hands of Suryakumar Yadav positioned at long-on.
“For the new batter, short midwicket was coming up a bit. It was their plan to bowl a particular length to him (Haider) and send midwicket back, where the catch was taken. At that point, strike rotation was the requirement. That way, you can understand the wicket and get an idea of what lengths the bowlers are bowling. You can get set that way.”
India will next lock horns with Netherlands in their second match of the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup on Thursday. Pakistan too will take on Zimbabwe on the same day.
