Graeme Swann, a former English spinner, has defended Virat Kohli after the latter was dismissed in the final session of the third day of play in the rescheduled fifth Test match at Edgbaston. According to Swann, the Indian commentators were quite harsh on Kohli, even though he was dismissed off an unplayable delivery from Ben Stokes.
According to Swann, the ball that Stokes threw to Kohli when he was in a good batting position was an unplayable one that would have gotten the better of any batsman. The former cricket player turned broadcaster referred to the ball as a “ripsnorter,” and then went on to remark that a batsman just has no opportunity to anticipate that sort of delivery coming regardless of whether he attempts to play on the front foot or the back foot.
Kohli got an unplayable delivery: Graeme Swann
“You may say what you want, but I don’t care who is batting in whatever period of Test history, if you can survive that delivery, you are very, very fortunate. That was unplayable,” Swann said while chatting to Sony Sports.
“That ball is a ripsnorter, regardless of whether you are attempting to go on the front foot or the back foot. When Indian critics discuss Virat, I usually get the impression that they are being extremely critical of him, which, coming from an English perspective, makes me think, “wow, they are being rather harsh on him. Despite the very demanding expectations placed on Virat, I got the impression that he was pretty relaxed,” he said.
In the second innings, Kohli seemed to be in excellent shape after playing his trademark cover drive, and it appeared as if he was in a strong position to convert his good start into a huge knock. However, he was eventually dismissed for a score that was far lower than his brilliant start. The batting superstar’s hopes of achieving his goal were dashed when the additional bounce delivered by Stokes broke the outer edge of his bat, putting an end to his innings. Sam Billings was unable to gather the ball properly behind the stumps because he fluffed it, but Joe Root, who was positioned in the slips, displayed an impressive level of presence of mind to complete the catch.
Kohli went back for 20, and when he was on his approach to the pavilion, he was taunted by the English crowd for his on-field altercation with Jonny Bairstow earlier in the day.
