‘Not a Bengaluru pitch’: Rashid Latif feels out-of-form Virat Kohli went out of his plan against England – Times of India
NEW DELHI: Virat Kohli’s run of low scores at the T20 World Cup continued on Thursday as the star India batter fell for just nine in a semi-final against defending champions England in Guyana on Thursday.
Registering his fifth single digit score of the tournament, Kohli got out in the third over itself, looking to play a rash swat-flick on the on side off left-arm paceman Reece Topley.
With the scores of — 1, 0, 4, 24, 37, 0 and 9 — Kohli has managed 75 runs in seven innings at an average of 10.71 at this year’s cricketing extravaganza.
After another low Kohli score, former Pakistan skipper Rashid Latif said that the batter went out of his plan on a surface where hitting wasn’t easy.
“Virat Kohli went out of his plan. This is not a Bengaluru pitch, this is a different one. Hitting the ball is not easy on this surface. The entire team combined to post a total of 171. It is not that easy, there are problems here for batters,” said Rashid Latif on Caught Behind.
Although Kohli fell cheaply in the match, his opening partner and captain Rohit Sharma, who came into this match following a blistering 92 against Australia, scored yet another 39-ball 57, contributing massively in India’s solid total of 171 for 7.
Latif lauded Rohit, saying he batted well in tough conditions amid stop-start due to rain.
“It was tough for Rohit Sharma as he lost the toss and had to come out to bat. Virat Kohli was dismissed and rain interrupted the game. That period is very bad. Waiting for umpires, seeing super soppers in action and then come out to bat again,” said the former Pakistan wicketkeeper.
As England folded for 103 inside 17 overs in chase, India went on to convincingly win the knock-out clash by 68 runs.
India next face first-time T20 World Cup finalists South Africa in the summit clash at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Saturday.