India suffered a 10 wickets defeat in the second Test match in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Adelaide Oval. Virat Kohli, has been facing a tough time in the longest format of the game but did not score a century in the second innings of the first Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth. However, he scored seven runs and 11 runs in the first and second innings of the Adelaide Test match.
The third Test match will kick off at the Gabba in Brisbane from December 14. It is one of the fastest and bounciest pitches in the whole world. Kohli who is predominantly a front-foot player has struggled to negate the extra bounce on the pitches due to his weak backfoot play.
What did Harbhajan Singh say about Virat Kohli?
Former India off-spinner, Harbhajan Singh has talked about the technical adjustments that Kohli is making ahead of the third Test match in Brisbane. Harbhajan observed Kohli during a net session and noted that Kohli typically prefers playing off the front foot, which suits the lower bounce conditions of Indian pitches.
He contrasted this with how some Australian greats like Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Justin Langer, and Matthew Hayden adapted their game to deal with the higher bounce in Australia, where you need a strong back-foot technique. Harbhajan pointed out that Kohli was specifically working on his back-foot play. Singh talked about the need to adjust his game based on different pitch behaviors.
“Yes, whatever little I have seen him batting in the nets today. I have played a lot of cricket with him. He is a front-foot player. Knowing the bounce on Indian soil, you have to be on your front foot. The people who have played here, the likes of Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Langer, Hayden. They were good back foot players, because of the bounce. It is the kind of bounce you get in Australia, you have to be good player of bounce. You need to have a good backfoot game. That’s what he was practising,” Harbhajan told Star Sports.
Harbhajan said that Kohli was playing a lot more balls off his backfoot in the nets ahead of the Brisbane Test. He has understood that Gabba wicket will have a lot more bounce and hence he needs to improve his backfoot game. Harbhajan praised Kohli for working on his technique and wished that he would make a strong comeback in the third Test match.
“Specifically I have noticed today. He was playing a lot of deliveries on the backfoot. He was going forward for the fuller ball but those balls which were slightly shorter than the length of full ball, he was either leaving or trying to play them. The ball from the back foot, he knows that Gabba will be a different wicket where he will get to face a lot of bounce and pace and that back foot game needs to be included in his game. Good to see him working on the game. I am sure, knowing Virat Kohli, we have seen him making a comeback after every setback,” Harbhajan stated.
