File image of Virat Kohli
Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Sunday wrapped up his miserable tour of New Zealand with a score of 14 in second innings of the second Test at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch after Colin de Grandhomme trapped him in front of the middle stump in the second afternoon. Kohli hence ended the Test series with just 38 runs at 9.50 - his worst average in a Test series of more than two matches - and ended this tour with 218 runs, less than what he had managed in his horror tour of England.
After the day's play, former Indian cricketer VVS Laxman dissected the reasons behind Kohli's similar sorts of dismissals - by Tim Southee in second innings in Wellington and first innings in Christchurch and by de Grandhomme on day 2 of the final Test.
“The problem for Virat Kohli is not the LBW dismissal, but the way the bat is coming down. This was the way he was getting out in England against the moving ball, especially against James Anderson. In this series we have seen the bat coming down at an angle, that is why there is always going to be a gap between bat and ball. He will not have any time to meet the ball once there is movement,” Laxman said in the post-match show on Star Sports.
“In this series, in these two innings, the old habit of Kohli had come back to haunt him,” he further added.
Meanwhile, former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris praised the New Zealand attack for reading Kohli's game and finding the right length against the pstalwart.
“One must give credit to New Zealand for planning and executing and the plans have worked. Whoever is doing the planning, needs a pat on the back. Stump to stump, channel to start with, away swinger to get him thinking and then the one that comes back into the stumps to get him out,” Styris said on Star Sports.
After the bowlers helped India bounce back early on day 2 with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami picking seven wickets between themselves, India were frustrated by Kyle Jamieson's well-crafted 49 down the order that left New Zealand only seven runs behind India's first-innings total, before Trent Boult's swing rattled the Indian top-order with the visitors managing only 90 for six, leading New Zealand by just 97 runs.
