What’s the story?
After their shocking loss in the first match, the England bowlers are already chalking out a plan to dismiss Virat Kohli early in the upcoming matches. Pacer Jake Ball has revealed that there is a plan to use the short ball effectively and disrupt the rhythm of the Indian skipper when he comes out to bat in the Cuttack ODI.
The plan is to make sure that he is not allowed to settle down quickly, wait for him to hit the ball in the air and get out, just like how he got out in the first ODI.
“Bouncer is something that we try to use. It’s something that they’re not really used to on their pitches out here. The pitch we played on was a nice, even-paced pitch, something that you could get a good bouncer through.
“Hopefully, the next place will be similar. I think that under the lights where it may skid on a bit more you can use the shorter ball a little bit more. But I think it's just trying to mix it up as much as you can... try not to let him get settled and hope he hits one up in the air,“ Ball said.
In case you didn’t know...
In spite of scoring 350/7 in the first innings and reducing India to 63/4 in the chase, England were beaten by 3 wickets in the first ODI at Pune. Skipper Virat Kohli was the star of the chase once again as he scored a fighting 122 and shared a 200-run stand for the fifth wicket with Kedar Jadhav, who backed his skipper’s efforts by scoring 120.
Also read: Virat Kohli sacrificed butter chicken and rolls to become top batsman, says coach
The heart of the matter
Allowing Virat Kohli to settle down will make life tougher for England as the Indian skipper has been the main nemesis for the visitors since the start of the tour as he has amassed 777 runs in 9 innings at an average of 111. Seeing the back of the right-hander early will give Eoin Morgan’s men a lot of confidence going into the Indian innings.
After getting him out to a slower bouncer in the first ODI at Pune, now the Poms have decided to attack Kohli using the rising delivery in the second ODI at Cuttack. Ball also believes that the short delivery can be a potent weapon, especially when bowling under lights.
What next?
England will look to bounce back in the second ODI and pull things back in the series while India will look to seal the series going into the third ODI. Both the teams reached the city earlier today, just a day ahead of their match as the rooms in the hotel where they were supposed to stay were already booked for wedding purposes.
Though the wicket is set to assist the batsmen, the team winning the toss will look to field first as dew is expected to play a big role in the evening.
Sportskeeda’s take
It is good to see England trying something to get the better of Virat Kohli. But, Virat Kohli is one of the better players of short bowling in India. It won’t be a surprise if Kohli manages to keep the English bowlers at bay even if he is thrown the short ball challenge.
