“I was surprised Kohli played such a stroke” - Wasim Jaffer reflects on star Indian batter’s 2nd-innings dismissal in WTC final

Former India batter Wasim Jaffer expressed surprise at Virat Kohli’s choice of stroke that led to his dismissals on Day 5 of the World Test Championship (WTC) final against Australia on Sunday.

Jaffer stated that Kohli showed a lot of discipline in leaving balls outside off stump on Day 4, but played a bad stroke to lose his wicket early on the last day.

Chasing 444 for victory in the WTC final, India went to stumps on Day 4 at The Oval at 164/3, with Kohli unbeaten on 44 and Ajinkya Rahane on 20. Although the chasing side had their backs to the wall, India had hope as long as Kohli was at the crease.

The former India captain, however, played a loose stroke outside off stump off Scott Boland’s bowling and was dismissed for 49. India lost their way after that and were bowled out for 234, losing the WTC final by 209 runs.

Analyzing Kohli’s shot, Jaffer told Sportskeeda:

“I was a bit surprised. He was batting so well on Day 4 and was not playing this stroke. He was disciplined and was leaving a lot of balls even though Australia were constantly testing him [outside off stump]. I was surprised Kohli played such a stroke on the fifth morning.

“It was a bad shot. There’s no doubt about it. In the first innings, he got a very good delivery, which was somewhat unplayable and he couldn’t do much about it. He looked in control in the second innings. I feel he himself will be very disappointed,” Jaffer added.

While Kohli was out for 49 off 78 balls in the second innings of the WTC final, he scored 14 in the first essay before gloving an awkwardly rising delivery from Mitchell Starc to second slip.

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Sunil Gavaskar slammed Virat Kohli for his poor shot in the WTC final

Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar hit out at Kohli over his poor stroke on Day 5 of the WTC final, which led to his dismissal.

Speaking to Star Sports after India lost yet another ICC final, Gavaskar lashed out at the Indian batter.

“It was a bad shot. It was an ordinary shot. You should ask Kohli what shot he played. That was a shot outside the off stump. We talk so much about the fact that when you are going to win a match, you need a long innings. You need a century-plus innings to win that. How do you get to a century-plus innings if you are going to play a shot which is so far outside the off stump?” he said.

Following India’s loss in the WTC 2023 final, Kohli took to social media and shared a post from Lao Tzu, which read, ‘Silence is the source of great strength’.