Don’t write off Virat Kohli and Steve Smith, warn pundits despite Perth failures

Virat Kohli and Steve Smith might have missed out in their first show of the much-awaited Border-Gavskar Trophy.

But pundits have warned their doubters to not look too much into their failures in Perth. Virat Kohli was dismissed for just five and Steve Smith bagged only the second golden duck of his career as batters had a nightmarish outing on the opening day of the first Test at the Optus Stadium.

As many as 17 wickets fell on the opening day as pacers ran riot on a spicy Perth pitch, which offered excessive seam movement. India were bundled out for 150 in less than 50 overs while Australia were reeling at 67 for 7 in 27 overs at Stumps on Day 1. Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Hazlewood, with four wickets each, were the pick of the bowlers as the two master craftsmen made life difficult for batters.

Virat Kohli has been the talk of the town ever since he landed in Perth. Despite his poor home series against New Zealand, Australian media and a section of pundits hyped him up. However, Kohli looked jittery in the first innings after India won the toss and opted to bat. The star batter took guard from well outside the off-stump — the farthest he has stood from the stumps while batting — to negate the excessive seam movement.

However, he was undone by a Josh Hazlewood delivery that bounced higher than he expected from a good length.

Speaking to Fox Cricket, former England captain Michael Vaughan said it’s too early to judge Virat Kohli, highlighting how the excessive seam movement made it difficult for most batters.

““It is too hard to judge him. Coming out of the crease in Perth when the ball is bouncing is a tactic not many try to pull off and he went for that. It bounced and he found the outside edge. But I think that now we have seen Australia (bat), this was clearly kind of a pitch where you had to be proactive because there’s plenty of balls out there,” Vaughan said.

“So generally in this era of the game, when the pitch does anything, players try to play aggressively and try to do things to disrupt the bowler. It’s not a tactic I would have used. But … Virat Kohli is a legend of the game and you had to try to do something,” he added.

MARK WAUGH DEFENDS STEVE SMITH
Meanwhile, legendary Mark Waugh jumped to the defence of Steve Smith, who was dismissed LBW by Jasprit Bumrah. Smith walked too far across the stumps and saw a delivery seaming into him and hitting his pads.

Smith did not even review the on-field umpire’s call as it looked plumb even on live visuals. Bumrah got the ball to jag back considerably and beat Smith’s inside edge.

“I don’t want to read too much into it today. I mean the pitch is doing enough at pace and Bumrah is a world class bowler. People have always questioned Steve Smith’s technique over the years, and he always responds. He’s a good problem solver,” Waugh said.

“I think his footwork at times, he can go too far across (to) the off-side. So I think it’s something he’s aware of. But I think today, the first ball, I don’t want to read too much into that.”

Barring KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Nitish Kumar Reddy, none of the other Indian batters looked comfortable on Friday. It was worse for Australia as Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Nitish Reddy ran through their hapless batting unit on a day when 17 wickets fell.