'Made a mistake in reading length' - Aakash Chopra dissects Virat Kohli's dismissal in Pune Test

Former Indian opener and famous commentator Aakash Chopra recently opened up star batter Virat Kohli's dismissal during India's first innings of the second Test against New Zealand in Pune. The former pointed out at Kohli's fundamental error in reading the delivery's length. The dismissal saw the modern-day great departing for just one run, which continued India's woes in the game.

The incident took place when Kohli was facing Mitchell Santner played across the line to a full toss, and was eventually bowled. Kohli's departure was particularly crucial as it left India at 56/3, leading to a collapse that saw them bowled out for just 156. Analyzing the dismissal, Chopra emphasized the importance of length assessment in batting technique. 

"He definitely made a mistake in reading length. Drift was spoken about, but the second thing is that as soon as a spinner releases the ball, the first thing you need to judge is length because length decides whether you will play the ball forward or back," he said on Colors Cineplex.

What made the dismissal particularly notable was Kohli's attempt to play the ball towards midwicket, a shot choice that Chopra found unusual given the batter's typical approach. 

"I think it was an error in judgment. Once the ball was released from the hand, whether it drifted in or not, that's a separate issue as to which line you played, but if it was a full toss, we are seeing Virat Kohli for the last 15 years, he doesn't close the face of his bat and hit full tosses over midwicket," Chopra added.

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He would say that it might have been better had he played straight: Chopra

Interestingly, Chopra drew a comparison to a similar dismissal in the Chennai Test against Bangladesh, where the 35-year-old had fallen to Mehidy Hasan Miraz in comparable circumstances. 

"In fact, if you remember the first match against Bangladesh, it was a very full delivery like this from Mehidy Hasan Miraz, he went to play the flick, got an inside edge, and was given out lbw. It is a similar kind of dismissal as he missed such a full delivery," he further added.

The analysis of the dismissal revealed that Kohli's bat made contact with the pitch during his downswing, potentially contributing to him missing the ball entirely. Chopra concluded his analysis by suggesting that even Kohli would acknowledge that a straighter bat face would have been the better option. 

"If he hadn't been reading the length wrong, he wouldn't be hitting such a full delivery there. He used to hit it straight. If you ask him, he would say that it might have been better had he played straight," the former Delhi batter added.