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Cricket Players'It allowed him to play his natural game': Michael Atherton explains how Ishan Kishan's fiery innings helped Virat Kohli
India vs England: But Virat Kohli squashed all the doubts with scintillating match-winning innings in the 2nd T20I against England.
After Virat Kohli was dismissed for a duck in the first T20I against England at Motera in Ahmedabad, there were a few questions being asked of the India captain. Kohli had not played his best in the Test series, and another duck pointed to potentially worrying signs for India.
But Kohli squashed all the doubts with scintillating match-winning innings in the 2nd T20I against England. The right-hander smashed 73* in 48 balls to help his side chase down 165 with 7 wickets in hand and 13 balls remaining.
Also read: He's promised he's going to commit everything to be all-rounder the team needs': Virat Kohli
Kohli was helped out in his endeavour by debutant opener Ishan Kishan who scored 56 runs in 32 balls to set up the easy win for India. And former England cricketer Michael Atherton believes that Kishan's fiery show at the top helped Kohli in playing his natural game.
"I think Virat felt under a little bit of pressure in that first game because of what he'd said in the press conference about India playing a slightly more aggressive game," the former England skipper told Sky Sports.
"The problem in that first game, with the line-up that India had was that they had quite a lot of similar players in the top-order and I think Kohli felt pressured. 'I've talked the talk, let's walk it now' and it's not really his game.
"He's (Kohli) an elite player and scores very quickly but not like a (Rishabh) Pant or, indeed, an Ishan Kishan. So when that young man came in and played the way that he did, I think that just allowed Kohli to come in and play his natural game," he added.
"He's not playing the type of shot he got out to the other day, where he is backing away and trying to manufacture something. He's just playing a more orthodox type of innings for him, even though he's still striking quickly and getting those fast hands through the ball in those leg-side shots that he plays so well," he said.
"I definitely felt this was a more Kohli-like performance than in the first game," Atherton signed off.
