Former India cricketer Maninder Singh has a piece of advice for Virat Kohli.
After failing to impress with the bat in the ongoing series in England, the Indian captain has been asked by the veteran spinner to keep his ego in check.
Speaking on a talk show with ESPNCricinfo, Singh said, "He needs to spend some time there, like he did on the previous tour where he scored almost 600 runs. Once you know the pace and know how much the ball is seaming around, they you can carry on playing your shots. These are not flat Indian pitches, where you can just put your foot forward and start driving. And what Kohli preached, he will have to practice. Keep your ego in your pocket."
Singh added that Kohli is committing the same mistakes he made during India's tour of England in 2014. "He got out a couple of times the same way as you did in 2014, when he just got a 138 runs in 10 innings. I think things start coming back - am I playing the wrong line? Should I be leaving these balls? All these Indian boys, in the first two Tests, they were leaving balls outside the off stump. I don’t know that happened in this Test match. They were wanting to play at it and paid the price for it. With Virat Kohli, he is going through a bad patch," he added.
How Day One panned out for India
James Anderson's artistic morning spell in an inspired English bowling performance blew away India for an inexplicable 78 as the hosts took complete control by stumps with a dominant batting show on the first day of the third Test in Leeds on Wednesday. If England pacers got their bearings right after the fifth day brain fade at the Lord's, India's famous batting unit's technique against swing bowling was laid bare by Anderson and his band which skittled them in little over 40 overs.
Then it was turn for local boy Haseeb Hameed (60 batting, 130 balls) and Rory Burns (52 batting, 125 balls) to get back to form ending the day at 120 for no loss with batting getting much easier as the day progressed. They now lead by 42 runs.
Kohli won a rare toss and despite the overcast conditions decided to bat first which in the end turned out to be a not so great decision as Anderson's injured new ball partner Stuart Broad tweeted about how the Headingley track has behaved over the years.
Anderson (8-5-6-3) then did what he does best -- messed with the minds of the top-order batsmen in a sharp eight-over morning spell getting three wickets and then passing on the baton to the younger lot which didn't disappoint him. Craig Overton (3/14 in 10.3 overs), Ollie Robinson (2/16 in 10 overs) and Sam Curran (2/27 in 10 overs) then tightened the noose with even Rohit Sharma (19 off 105 balls) finding it difficult to get a move on even after playing 100 balls. Ajinkya Rahane scored 18 but had it not been for 16 extra runs, the embarrassment would have been more like the Adelaide Test match
It was a shoddy performance as the pitch although termed "tacky" by England skipper Joe Root didn't have any exaggerated off-the pitch movement that could have troubled the batsmen.
(With PTI inputs)
