Inconsistent Virat Kohli gets important suggestion from Cheteshwar Pujara ahead of the third Test against Australia

Virat Kohli has been inconsistent in Test cricket for several years now. He is unable to handle the spinners and the pacers and has become a walking wicket in red-ball cricket. In the ongoing series against Australia, he started the first Test with a score of five, with Josh Hazlewood getting rid of him easily. In the next essay, he returned to form and struck an unbeaten 100 off 143 balls to help India win the contest by 295 runs at the Optus Stadium in Perth.

He went back to Adelaide Oval, his favourite ground in Australia and the stage was set for him to churn out another big knock. However, the results were damaging to India’s hopes as the veteran amassed 7 and 11 across both innings as the visitors were beaten by 10 wickets.

Kohli couldn’t handle a rising delivery from Mitchell Starc in the first innings, while Scott Boland forced him to go for a drive on a ball that was pitched outside the off-stump, and the batter was caught behind the stumps.

Cheteshwar Pujara, who dominated the Australian attacks over the years, feels Virat is making the big mistake of going for shots on the deliveries that are on the fourth or fifth stump line outside the off stump.

“Virat Kohli will have to avoid playing shots on the deliveries that are bowled on the fourth or the fifth stump line. He has been facing this issue for a long time, and the bowlers are taking advantage of his weaknesses.

“He is regularly getting the balls outside the off stump. I know Virat is aware of this problem and I hope he gets it corrected before the next game. He can easily leave these ball and there is no need to go for strokes as he can’t play drives on such deliveries,” Cheteshwar Pujara said on Star Sports.

Barring Nitish Kumar Reddy, the rest of the batters have been inconsistent so far, and the team would have better performances from them in the remaining three games. For Virat, this is the last tour of Australia, and he would like to make it a memorable one. There is a need for him to return to form. Since 2021, he has just four Test hundreds, and in the previous Test series against New Zealand, he managed 93 runs in six innings, with just fifty to his name.

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