Sachin Tendulkar Decodes Virat Kohli’s Batting Struggles in England Test Series, Says Form is Also Your State of Mind Along With Body

The batting maestro pointed out that Kohli hasn't been moving his feet properly while batting and also moving too far across the stumps which is leading to the cheap dismissals against England.

High on confidence after beating England in their own backyard -Lord’s Cricket Ground, Virat Kohli-led Team India has taken a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. Kohli’s impressive leadership, tactical moves and inspiring changes were the key ingredients which gave India a memorable and historic victory at the Home of Cricket on Monday. However, Kohli’s own personal form with the bat is under the scanner and remain a point of worry for the visiting team going ahead.

In a recent interview with PTI, batting legend Sachin Tendulkar pointed out the errors that India skipper has been making in the Tests in England so far which is why he hasn’t been able to score runs like the last tour. The 32-year-old hasn’t been able to find his rhythm on the current tour and managed to score only 62 runs in the 2 Tests so far in England. His scores make a reading of 0, 42 and 20 – in 3 innings.

The batting maestro Tendulkar pointed out that Kohli hasn’t been moving his feet properly while batting and also moving too far across the stumps which is leading to the cheap dismissals.

“Virat hasn’t had a great start. It is the mind that leads to technical errors and if the start isn’t good you start thinking about a lot of things. Because anxiety levels are high you tend to over compensate your movements,” Tendulkar said.

Kohli had a forgettable tour of England in 2014 where he scored 134 runs from the 4 Tests at an average of 13.40. But he bounced back in style in 2019, amassing 593 runs at 59.30 with 2 hundreds and 3 fifties to finish as the highest-scorer in the Test series.

“When a batsman isn’t in good form you either go too far across or don’t move your feet at all. That happens to everyone. Form is also your state of mind along with the body working in harmony,” Tendulkar told PTI.

That was some Test match #TeamIndia! 👏🏻🇮🇳

Enjoyed watching every moment of it. The resilience and grit that the team displayed in difficult situations is something that stood out for me.

Very well played! ☺️

#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/BLpdMdNx2J

Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 16, 2021

Tendulkar further adds that the current England team is in complete awe of India’s world-class seam attack with only its skipper Joe Root looking capable of getting a big hundred. “This England team has had a history of collapses. I felt that is where they lost the grip and if you look at their batting, how many batters can one say, this guy can come out and get a big hundred? In this team, I don’t see anyone other than Joe Root. Teams of past had number of such players whether Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, Andrew Strauss.”

“Yes they might get an odd hundred but how many can get big hundreds consistently? Other than Root, I can’t find anyone and that’s the state of their batting today. May be the reason for Root to opt for fielding first.”

The 48-year-old also lauded pacer Jasprit Bumrah, who had a brief lean patch during the World Test Championship (WTC) final against New Zealand. But in the second Test, he came back strongly, picking up three crucial wickets in the second innings to help India register a famous win.

“I felt before the WTC final, Bumrah didn’t have enough long spells under his belt. He is the kind of bowler who is like the more he bowls, the better he gets.”

“He doesn’t only have a big heart but also has brains and we saw that yesterday when he outsmarted Ollie Robinson with a brilliant slower ball to dismiss him after peppering him with a few short balls,” Tendulkar concluded.