Sydney. Former Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy wants his country’s fast bowler to use every method to dismiss Virat Kohli in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. This includes everything from bowling the ball on his front foot to ‘targeting his body’ with short-pitched balls. Kohli has been struggling in Test matches for quite some time. He has scored only two centuries and 11 half-centuries in the last 60 Test innings.
Virat Kohli has performed brilliantly in Australia. In this country he has scored runs at an average of 54. Ian Healy advised to put pressure on Kohli with the strong Australian fast bowler trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc. Healy told ‘SEN Radio’, ‘The first matchup I am looking at is how our fast bowlers can bowl to Virat Kohli. I think they should continue to target his front pad.
Ian Healy said, ‘He uses his front foot a lot and can play the ball anywhere from there. He can also play the ball square on the off side and down the leg side using his front foot. He also has the ability to adopt a defensive attitude on such balls. He will be eager to gain momentum and our bowlers may probably target the front pad.
Healy, who has scored almost 4500 runs in 119 Tests for Australia, said that our bowlers should, however, avoid using this strategy for too long as it will help them understand our plan. Healy said, ‘He should not do this on every ball because Kohli will get used to it. If this plan does not work then they should bowl targeting Kohli’s body.
He said, ‘In this type of bowling, pressure should be created by placing the fielder on the shot leg. In such a situation, he will use the pull shot to deal with the pressure which can be difficult to control. In such a situation, our other option could be to bowl targeting his body.
Tags: India vs Australia, Virat Kohli
FIRST PUBLISHED : November 19, 2024, 6:02 PM IST