"His weakness is only because of one reason" - Sunil Gavaskar on Virat Kohli's dismissal in BGT 2024-25 5th Test

Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar has attributed Virat Kohli's weakness outside the off-stump to his tendency to play virtually every ball off the front foot. He pointed out that the ace Indian batter can leave such deliveries if he uses his back foot.

Kohli scored 17 runs off 69 deliveries as India were bowled out for 185 in their first innings on Day 1 (Friday, January 3) of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) fifth Test in Sydney. Australia ended the day at 9/1, with Jasprit Bumrah dismissing Usman Khawaja off the final delivery of the day.

During a discussion on Star Sports, Gavaskar was asked about his thoughts on Kohli getting dismissed once again in a similar fashion.

"He will himself be very disappointed. His weakness is only because of one reason. He wants to play a lot off the front foot. If you use your back foot, you can leave these deliveries because when you go onto the back foot, you get the time of one-and-a-half feet," he responded.

The former India opener added that Kohli's slightly open bat face also contributed to his dismissal.

"When you play off the front foot, you are unable to control. It's absolutely right to go close to the ball if it's swinging, but you get a chance to play bounce if you play back. He is not doing that because he is only playing forward. He was outside the crease. So it will be difficult, and he also opened his bat's face slightly," Gavaskar observed.

Virat Kohli could have been dismissed off his first ball but the third umpire ruled that the ball had touched the ground before the catch was completed. He was eventually brilliantly caught by Beau Webster at third slip off Scott Boland's bowling.

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"Virat Kohli doesn't have runs behind square" - Irfan Pathan

Virat Kohli has repeatedly fallen prey to deliveries outside the off-stump. [Image Credit: Getty]

In the same discussion, Irfan Pathan noted that Virat Kohli cannot replicate Sachin Tendulkar's 2004 Sydney Test approach as he doesn't play shots behind square on the off-side.

"He is coming and going in the same fashion outside the off-stump. All of us talk about the great Sachin Tendulkar not playing the cover drive on the same Sydney ground, but he used to play the square cut and uppercut apart from the cover drive, but Virat Kohli doesn't have runs behind square," he said.

The former India all-rounder pointed out that the modern batting great is bound to run out of patience if he doesn't employ the cut shot and keeps leaving deliveries outside the off-stump.

"When he tries to show a lot of discipline, he runs out of patience, and then he tries to play one ball and gets out. For how long will you show patience? You were playing at a strike rate of around 25," Pathan observed.

"Australia didn't give you any opportunities to score runs on the stumps. Until you bring that shot out, the Australian bowlers will keep doing the same thing. If he shows too much discipline, the entire day will pass and runs won't come," he added.

Virat Kohli has aggregated 184 runs at an average of 26.28 in eight innings in BGT 2024-25. All seven of his dismissals in the series have been to catches either by the wicketkeeper or in the slip cordon.