Ashton Agar on Kohli’s ability to rotate strike in run-chases and how this ability tends to frustrates the bowlers.
Ashton Agar said bowlers struggle to build pressure on Virat Kohli in ODI cricket, and one key reason for that is his ability to rotate the strike.
Agar added that teams find it extremely challenging to defend totals against India because of the other batsmen’ spectacular shots and Kohli’s ability to handle the pressure from one end by finding the gaps, making him one of the hardest hitters to bowl to in ODI cricket. Agar described his knock as a “masterclass” and claimed that bowlers seldom feel as like they are hitting a batter of Kohli’s calibre.
“That’s the frustrating part about bowling to him,” Agar said in the post-match show on ESPNcricinfo. “It is not the damage that he can do to the fence, it’s just the fact that you cannot build pressure on him. So it’s really out to get him out in a sense. You never really feel like you’re on top of him unless the ball is really spinning. And you don’t get a lot of pitches in one-day cricket like that.
“He has this fantastic ability to hit your best ball, the top of middle stump, slightly spinning away, he holds the bat’s face slightly longer than other batters do, opens it in the last second, and hits it in the cover point gap. He’s probably the best in the world at doing that and he’s very difficult to build pressure on.
“India batted around Virat beautifully. The guys who came in kept pushing the rate and allowed Virat to do his thing, hit the odd boundary and just keep ticking over. I saw a stat that Virat has scored the most singles since the year 2000, which is phenomenal. It was a bit of a masterclass from him and all the batters contributed nicely.”
Australia gradually lost the match as Kohli scored 64 of his 84 runs on Tuesday with ones and twos. Despite being bowled six times for an average of just 12 by legspinners since the beginning of 2024, he outscored Tanveer Sangha and Adam Zampa to hit 35 in 33 deliveries against the leg-spinning duo.