'Keep your ego in your pocket' - Maninder Singh urges Virat Kohli to walk the talk

India skipper Virat Kohli, ahead of the third Test against England at Headingley, admitted that the country is the toughest to bat. He also spoke about how batsmen have to keep his ego in the pocket and duly respect the conditions all the time. But in the opening session of the Test match, after opting to bat, India found themselves reeling at 21/3 in the first hour with Kohli himself back in the hut.

He was dismissed going for an expansive drive off the outside the off-stump delivery off James Anderson. The Indian captain was on just 7 and could’ve easily left the ball to the keeper. Instead, he ended up edging one extending his barren run with the bat. In the ongoing series too, he has managed to score only 69 runs in four innings so far.

Former India cricketer Maninder Singh has now advised Virat Kohli to walk the talk and keep his ego in the pocket. He reckoned that the 32-year-old needs to spend some time in the middle before going for his shots. “Before the Test match, Virat Kohli had said that in these English conditions you’ve got to keep your ego in your pocket. And I think that is absolutely right.

“If he tries to dominate, like Virat Kohli usually does, these are not the pitches where he can bat like that. He needs to spend some time there, like he did on the previous tour where he scored almost 600 runs. Once you know the pace and know how much the ball is seaming around, they you can carry on playing your shots.

“These are not flat Indian pitches, where you can just put your foot forward and start driving. And what Kohli preached, he will have to practice. Keep your ego in your pocket,” Maninder said while speaking to ESPNCricinfo.

Kohli repeating same mistakes, says Maninder

Looking at the kind of Virat Kohli’s dismissals, Maninder Singh also noted that he is making similar mistakes that he made during the 2014 tour of England. The former cricketer also went on to add the Indian captain is indeed going through a bad patch.

“Virat Kohli is basically making the same mistakes that he was making on his first tour of England. He is playing away from the body. It could happen to you if you are not playing regular cricket. He got out a couple of times the same way as you did in 2014, when he just got a 138 runs in 10 innings.

“I think things start coming back – am I playing the wrong line? Should I be leaving these balls? All these Indian boys, in the first two Tests, they were leaving balls outside the off stump. I don’t know that happened in this Test match. They were wanting to play at it and paid the price for it. With Virat Kohli, he is going through a bad patch,” Maninder further added.