'All bowlers now have to do is to just bowl in that line' - Sanjay Manjrekar on Virat Kohli's outside off stump woes

The poor form of Virat Kohli has been a talking point of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy this season. The Indian stalwart has only played one big knock in the series so far which is the century he scored at Perth. After that, it has been a string of low scores for the star batter.

The situation for Virat has been bizarre where he has been getting out the same way by chasing the ball outside the off stump. The Kohli story in this series has been about edges that either found the slip cordon or the wicketkeeper's gloves. Experts have analysed and dissected his technique and approach which is hampering his game. Former India batter and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar who has shared his views on the struggles of Kohli outside the off stump stated that the legendary batter is struggling to play every length outside off stump and also compared it to the struggles he had against James Anderson in 2014.

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“You see the problem for Virat Kohli, it has actually compounded where it doesn't matter what the length is. He is still getting out to balls in that channel whether it's short or whether it's full. Earlier it was only the full deliveries that troubled him and the short-of-length balls he used to manage. But now just a bowler, it could be anyone who has to just turn up and bowl outside off and you got to feel for him because he has just run out of scoring options," Manjrekar said as quoted by The Times of India.

“We saw that against Jimmy Anderson in 2014 in England but if the balls were outside off that were full, the balls that he was driving at were the ones that he was getting out to but now the problem has become so severe that all bowlers now have to do is to just bowl in that line on the fifth and sixth, doesn't matter the length," Manjrekar added.

Speaking of Kohli’s recent performance in the Sydney Test, he narrowly escaped a first-ball duck as the third umpire ruled in favour of him seeing that the ball grazed the grass, however he was ultimately dismissed cheaply for just 17 runs which he scored off 69 deliveries.