Behind Virat Kohli’s Perth Test Tactic, England Great’s Justification: “Had To Do…”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has defended star India batter Virat Kohli after his flop show with the bat in the 1st innings of the Perth Test against Australia. Kohli managed just five runs before fending off a climbing Josh Hazlewood delivery to Usman Khawaja at slip. His 12-ball stay in the middle extended his lean patch with the bat, having managed just 93 runs in the recent home series loss to New Zealand. The former India captain hasn’t scored a century since the West Indies tour last year.

Vaughan, however, refused to rule Kohli out just yet despite his failure in the 1st innings in Perth. He suggested it’s too early to judge Kohli, highlighting how the excessive seam movement made life difficult for most batters.

“It is too hard to judge him. Coming out of the crease in Perth when the ball is bouncing is a tactic not many try to pull off and he went for that. It bounced and he found the outside edge. But I think that now we have seen Australia (bat), this was clearly kind of a pitch where you had to be proactive because there’s plenty of balls out there,” Vaughan said on Fox Sports.

“So generally in this era of the game, when the pitch does anything, players try to play aggressively and try to do things to disrupt the bowler. It’s not a tactic I would have used. But…Virat Kohli is a legend of the game and you had to try to do something,” he added.

During the same discussion, former Australia batter Mark Waugh defended his compatriot Steve Smith, who was dismissed for a golden duck by Jasprit Bumrah. This was the first instance that Smith registered a first ball duck in home Tests.

“I don’t want to read too much into it today. I mean the pitch is doing enough at pace and Bumrah is a world class bowler. People have always questioned Steve Smith’s technique over the years, and he always responds. He’s a good problem solver,” Waugh said.

“I think his footwork at times, he can go too far across (to) the off-side. So I think it’s something he’s aware of. But I think today, the first ball, I don’t want to read too much into that.”