Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players'You need some luck. Whenever Virat seems to be playing well...': Ex-Pakistan captain gives verdict on Kohli's flop show
While Virat Kohli fell without scoring big, Cheteshwar Pujara was his gritty self to lead the charge in India's second innings during the ongoing fifth Test.
As the cloud cover slowly faded away from Edgbaston, Virat Kohli started off with a couple of graceful boundaries. He dished out a couple of trademark cover drives and looked in decent touch before falling prey to England skipper Ben Stokes on Day 3 of the rescheduled fifth Test in Birmingham. Kohli, who hasn’t scored a test century since his 136 against Bangladesh at Kolkata in 2019, was undone by the extra bounce and perished on just 20. (India vs England Live Score, 5th Test, Day 4)
Kohli's century drought in international cricket has been a hot topic of debate for quite a while now. As he walked back with another forgettable outing, former Pakistan captain Salman Butt shared his views on the dismissal. Butt, who played for the Pakistan cricket team between 2003 and 2010, said luck hasn't favoured the mercurial Indian batter in recent times.
“Whenever Virat Kohli seems to be playing well, he gets an unplayable ball. He looked confident today (Sunday) and was batting well. To score big runs, you need some luck. No one else got the kind of unplayable ball that Virat did. There is nothing that Kohli or any other batter could do about that ball," said Butt on his YouTube channel.
While Kohli fell without scoring big, Cheteshwar Pujara was his gritty self to lead the charge in the second innings. He remained unbeaten on 50 with Rishabh Pant (30 not out) as India reached 125-3 at stumps, establishing a healthy 257-run lead.
Earlier, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah bowled out England for 284. Siraj used the old soft ball to perfection to take 4 for 66, while captain Bumrah scythed through the top-order to return 3 for 68. Mohammed Shami also picked up two wickets.
Butt lauded India's bowling effort and explained how the English batters faced a relatively better attack than New Zealand, who got blanked 0-3 in the recent Test series.
“India’s fast bowlers are superior to that of New Zealand’s. India have variety. They have seamers who can move the ball off the deck. (Mohammad) Shami and (Jasprit) Bumrah can do that, and (Mohammed) Siraj hits the deck hard. They bowl nagging line and lengths with aggression. Shardul Thakur is a medium-pacer, who can swing the ball," said Butt.
