Brett Lee reviews Virat Kohli's Border-Gavaskar Trophy, delivers verdict

Former Australia fast bowler Brett Lee called Virat Kohli’s performance in Australia very un-Kohli-like. Speaking on his YouTube channel, Lee said that Australia’s brilliant bowling plan put Kohli in trouble, resulting in a terrible Test series for him.

Virat Kohli only scored 190 runs across 5 Tests in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. After scoring a hundred in the first Test match at Perth, things went downhill for Kohli as he kept edging balls outside off stump to either slips or to the keeper. Kohli finished with an average of 23.75, and was criticised for not curbing his instincts of playing balls in the corridor of uncertainty.

Lee said that he was optimistic about Kohli’s chances after his 2nd innings hundred at Perth Stadium but it was slim pickings for the batter after that.

“For me, it was very Un-Kohli-like, you obviously get batsmen nick off occasionally or theyll do something and theyll make those differences in their actions and techniques but the thing with Virat Kohli. Unfortunately for him, he kept getting out the same way through the whole Test series. I think back to Perth, the second innings where he made a magnificent 100 and I thought okay, hes in going himself in the first innings nicked off but now hes back to his best, 100,” Lee said on his YouTube channel.

Lee credited Australia for having a terrific plan for Virat Kohli. In fact seamer Scott Boland had publicly spoken about the plans to Virat Kohli. Boland had revealed that Australia had a set plan for Kohli, noting that he often leaves a lot of deliveries early on and then looks to play the ball once he gets settled. To counter this, Boland mentioned that they adjust their line to the fifth stump once Kohli is in, a tactic that turned out to be quite effective in the series.

But after that, he was very slim pickings for Virat Kohli. I also think Australia had a very valid bowling plan to him, they researched him very very well. I think their preparation was very outstanding but unfortunately for Virat Kohli, he missed out other than one innings in Perth, he added.

Lee however did not discard Virat Kohli entirely. Lee argued that Virat looked engaged throughout the series, just that he was not able to contribute a lot of runs with the bat.

I dont think so that they were mentally not well prepared. I think Rohit Sharma more than Kohli but I was watching Kohli very very closely throughout the whole series and to me, he [Kohli] looked very engaged, he looked like he was certainly applying all those skills that have made him such a great batsman. And, hes still such a great batsman. But unfortunately for Kohli, he couldnt get those runs, he concluded.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s disaster tour gravely impacted India’s batting riches. The team failed to challenge Australia in spicy conditions and lost the 5-match series 1-3.

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