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2014: James Anderson makes Virat Kohli a walking duck in the Test series getting him out either caught behind or bowled.
The result: Kohli averages 13.40 in the five-match Test series and India loses the Test series 3-1 after the win in the second Test at Lord’s.
2016: England tours India, Virat Kohli, smashes 655 runs against England as they are ripped apart for 4-0 in the series.
It’s the same soil they had success back in 2012. And such was the magic of King Kohli that England, despite scoring 400 runs in the first innings, ended up losing games at Mumbai and Chennai (400 at Mumbai, 477 at Chennai).
Kohli himself confessed wrong technique and desperation to succeed were the biggest reasons for his failure in that tour of England.
The crowd’s boos and the media following and questioning him also can’t have helped. The prolific batsman, who was beginning to find his feet in Test cricket, had a horror series.
He had returned with scores of 1, 8, 25, 0, 39, 28, 0, 7, 6 and 20 in five Tests, averaging 13.50 in his ten innings, and then cemented that with 0, 40, 1 not out and 13 in ODIs.
Before restoring some pride for himself, he scored 66 in T-20s.
What followed later was a complete turnaround as Virat scored 639 runs Down Under against Strong bowling line-up of Australia which included four centuries.
Back in 2014, all the balls that got Kohli out were same and were planned similarly.
Anderson would bring Virat to front foot by bowling three-four balls which were either inswinger or straighter one.
When he would see that Kohli has become tentative to push the ball coming towards him then, he secretly bowled one outswinger.
This outswinger was not normal, this outswinger swang late, swang when the batsman had committed to the shot, swang when the batsman would realise its too late to withdraw from the ball, and swang to take the outside edge.
As Anderson confessed in one of his interviews, he’s learnt the art of swing by watching Mohammad Asif and hiding the ball from Zaheer Khan of India.
(AFP PHOTO / SAEED KHAN)
For Indian cricket supporters, it was disappointed to see Kohli getting out in the same fashion in every match but could not stop admiring how beautifully a world-class bowler can set up a world-class batsman by following the same trick.
Perhaps it was a technique issue when it started but as the tour went on it become a mental thing as he was continually expecting inswinger and his hip opened a lot more and left him with no position to take care of outswingers.
But after the tour, he took a few sessions with little master Sachin Tendulkar. In addition, there were a few drills for widening the stance and making sure his toe points towards point instead of the cover.
The results were visible as VK went on to make giant strides in the international cricket to solidify his position as one of the best test batsman.
This includes scoring four double hundreds as a captain in home season 2016-17 and another two in 2017.
After four years, Virat is back to the country where he endured horror series with the bat. His preparation to get acclimatised to the conditions by playing for Surrey county received a blow as Virat was ruled out due to injury.
But ODI series before the test series will help him get used to the condition to gear up for the significant challenges.
The war of words had already begun in 2016 when James Anderson questioned if Virat was really up to the task.
This was even after his run feast against the team. He cited flat pitches in India taking out any advantages bowlers could have to exploit the weakness of Kohli.
Glenn Mcgrath who is known to make the series prediction before the start and the scoreline affirmed Virat struggles in England would continue against the master of swing in his condition saying James Anderson will still prove to be good for Kohli.
All eyes will be on Test series when Virat faces the first delivery against Jimmy. Kohli will be keen to erase the biggest blot in his cricketing CV by scoring runs in heaps against the same line-up this time around.
With much-improved technique, more experience and more responsibility – expect Kohli to be up for the challenge.
The help from Indian bowlers will fuel the team if they can bowl out England for low scores, meaning more defensive field early in the game and good opening partnership to ensure the ball swings less when Kohli arrives in the crease.
Probably, Virat will have wafer thin edge this time around.
Verdict
Irrespective of the how good England bowlers are, Kohli will make it an even contest.
With the Indian team getting the hang of the condition through limited over series, Virat will be more prepared for the challenge than he was in 2014.
If bowlers can get England out cheaply, expect Virat Kohli to take the attack on his opposition and conquer his final frontier.
The Jimmy-Broad combo will test him. Perhaps they will get the better of him on few occasions, but Virat could come out on top once the series ends and finally silence all those who question his genius.
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