With the possibility of another slow breakthrough in the second test, due to start on Friday, local boy Kohli is preparing to put his best foot forward. The extra efforts seem badly needed as scoring the run will be a struggle.
Kohli arrived at the stadium at least half an hour before the Indian team bus arrived in his personal car – a gleaming black Porsche. He wanted more batting time and arrived early for the session. He started with the usual touchdowns and some net bowlers.
Once a young man, military bowling medium, was indignantly snatched off his back foot, he asked for spinners.
“Spinners ko bulaao,” Kohli said and moved to the other net, where he worked on tackling the spinners.
Virat Kohli bats into the nets during a training session. (Photo by AFP)
Kohli looked at the rough created on that practice strip and then used his boots to create more abrasion. Batting coach Vikram Rathourin fact, he indicated particular areas where he could make indentations and let the ball speak. The idea was to counteract the natural variation from the surface where the ball lands on the rough and can spin to either side.
India A regular Saurabh KumarUP’s talented left arm spinner, asked some probing questions.
There was a delivery where Kohli went on the sidelines. The ball did not rebound after the throw. It was kind of a “shooter” that didn’t get up. Kohli smiled wryly and looked at the surface.
There were two off spinners, net bowlers Pulkit Narang and Hrithik Shokeen who bowled and sometimes mixed it up with a flatter trajectory.
That day, he would regularly take to the track to cover the rough while leading Shokeen and Narang during that session. He wasn’t very fluid at first as some of his strokes weren’t out of the flesh of the blade.
Kohli’s struggles against the spinners have been real and the Feroz Shah Kotla track will be another slow corner as Nagpur if not slower. He was caught along the side of the leg when he tried to maneuver the spinner Tod Murphy in the Nagpur test.
There was a grass cover, but anyone who has seen how the Kotla course performs will tell you that it’s more about maintaining the firm grip of the surface.
But there would be some moisture below the surface during the morning session which will help the bowlers. But Kotla is something of a track where both run-making and wicket-taking are hard work.
(With inputs from PTI)
