Kohli scored 52 off 55 balls but was dismissed by Rashid for the fifth time in ODIs and the 11th time across formats.
Former England batter Kevin Pietersen advised Virat Kohli to watch how Joe Root plays against spin after Kohli got out to Adil Rashid for the second time in a row during the third ODI in Ahmedabad. Kohli scored 52 off 55 balls but was dismissed by Rashid for the fifth time in ODIs and the 11th time across formats.
The 36-year-old fell to a leg-spin delivery that made him step forward and edge the ball to wicketkeeper Phil Salt. This was almost the same way Rashid dismissed him in the second ODI. With this, the England spinner has now dismissed Kohli five times in ODIs.
Kevin Pietersen said on Star Sports that Kohli was dismissed because he was reaching too far forward with his bat when playing Rashid’s delivery. He clarified that this error demonstrated that Kohli miscalculated the ball’s length, which is not appropriate for a player of his caliber.
Pietersen underlined that Kohli gave Rashid a simple opportunity to take his wicket by overcommitting on the front foot. He then compared this to Joe Root’s technique who plays the spin at the back foot, highlighting that Root never makes the same mistake and remains balanced while playing spin.
“Look how far forward his bat is in front of his pad. This means he s got the length wrong and he’s too good a player to get out like that. He shouldn’t be doing it. He shouldn’t be giving Adil Rashid that chance to get his wicket. You watch Joe Root. He will never be over-committed on the front foot like that. No way.”
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Pietersen criticized Kohli’s dismissal, saying that a player of his level shouldn’t be getting out to such a delivery. He explained that the ball was bowled slowly through the air, meaning Kohli had enough time to adjust. Instead of committing too much on the front foot, he should have played it off the back foot and guided it into the offside.
Kevin Pietersen believes that had Kohli done this, he would have still been at the crease and could have gone on to score big. He also pointed out the exact spot where the ball made contact with Kohli’s bat, reinforcing that his mistake led to the dismissal.
“He shouldn’t be getting out to that ball. He’s a much better player than that. And he will be kicking himself. That ball is bowled slowly through the air. So he shouldn’t have been over-committed on the front foot. He should have played back to it. He should have punched it into the offside, and he would still have been batting and he probably would have gone on to get a big score. That’s where you can see where the ball has made contact with the bat.”
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