'Such a loose shot, could've easily left the ball' - Sunil Gavaskar disappointed with Virat Kohli's shot selection against South Africa

Former India skipper and legendary batter Sunil Gavaskar was left disappointed after Virat Kohli perished cheaply for the second time in the ongoing Boxing Day Test in Centurion against South Africa, getting dismissed in a similar way in both the innings – chasing extremely wide deliveries only to edge them behind. He looked in a good rhythm on both occasions but was guilty of poking at harmless deliveries he could have easily left.

Kohli, who returned with scores of 35 and 18, attempted an expansive drive against an extremely wide Lungi Ngidi delivery but nicked it straight to the first slip in the first innings, whereas on the second occasion, he ended up repeating the same mistake when debutant Marco Jansen bowled well away from his body but the Indian skipper managed to edge it to keeper Quinton de Kock behind.

It was pretty similar to the first innings dismissal: Sunil Gavaskar

Pointing out at the same, Gavaskar labelled Kohli’s shot a “loose” one, reckoning that it was a delivery he could have left alone. Gavaskar further added that given India had just come in to bat after the lunch break, Kohli must have given himself a bit of time to settle down.

“(It was) bowled at an angled across outside off stump, look at how far he played. Pretty similar to the first innings dismissal,” Gavaskar said on-air.

“It was a loose shot, first ball after lunch. Every batsman gives himself a little time, especially in Test cricket to get his feet moving. Even if it’s a drink interval, you need to reset your batting. Kohli, being such an experienced batsman… maybe he was looking to get quick runs to get declaration done. But often, when teams look for declaration, especially in Indian cricket history, they’d be all out.

“Look how far away this ball is, he could’ve left it all alone. First ball after lunch! He’s a predominantly bottom hand player, the bat has an angle to it which gets him out,” Gavaskar added.

Kohli, who has 27 centuries in 97 Tests, last breached the triple-figure mark in 2019 against Bangladesh in the pink-ball Test in Kolkata.