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Chappell Lashes Out At Virat Kohli; Cautions Rohit Sharma And Co Ahead Of Australia Tour

Virat Kohli scored just 93 runs in three Tests vs NZ [Source: PTI]Virat Kohli scored just 93 runs in three Tests vs NZ [Source: PTI]

Team India crashed to a 25-run defeat against New Zealand at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both failed to pull off a 147-run chase for the hosts, as they sustained a rare 0-3 series whitewash at home.

Following Kohli’s dismal show against New Zealand, former Australian cricketer Ian Chappell has now issued a stern warning to the Indian team, especially in lieu of their upcoming five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy tour of Australia.

Ian Chappell cautions Team India

Writing for ESPNCricinfo, Ian Chappell recalled Virat Kohli’s first innings dismissal to Mitchell Santner from the Pune Test of the New Zealand tour, where the Indian batter’s lack of ‘decisive footwork’ led to his downfall.

With other Indian batters also failing to score runs off late, Chappell issued a stern warning to Rohit Sharma’s troops. He stated that India’s ‘calamitous’ performance against New Zealand exposed their batting weakness, mere days prior to taking flight for the tough Australian tour. Ian Chappell wrote:

“Star batter Virat Kohli's first-innings dismissal was the perfect example of India's lack of decisive footwork. Kohli was clean bowled by a delivery from Santner that if the batter had taken even a small pace out of his crease he could have hit on the full. However, instead of Kohli's lack of decisive footwork being the culprit, his shot selection was questioned.”

“Calamitous displays against New Zealand exposed weaknesses in India's batting. There's no good time for batting fragility but on the eve of a tough tour of Australia it's asking for trouble.”

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma accrued just 93 and 91 runs respectively across six innings of the three Tests against New Zealand, thus maintaining a batting average of less than 16. Moreover, the two cricketers listed just one half-century each in the process.

Kohli, in particular, scored just 192 runs across all 10 innings of India’s five-Test home season against Bangladesh and New Zealand.

Fresh from their horror show at home, the Indian cricket team will now be taking flight for Australia for a series of five Test matches. The first Test of the tour will be hosted by the Optus Stadium in Perth from November 22 onwards. The series also marks India’s final set of fixtures in the ongoing 2023-25 WTC cycle.