'When Virat Kohli comes out to bat we will be ready' - Tom Latham ahead of the second Test

New Zealand is riding high on the 10-wicket victory in the first Test match against India in Wellington and seems confident about repeating the feat again in the second Test match to be played at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. It seems they have turned their focus on opposition captain Virat Kohli and have already prepared plans for his quick dismissal.

Kohli failed to come good in both innings in Wellington’s Basin Reserve ground. He scored 2 and 19 respectively, and his mode of dismissal reopened previous wounds, as he was out fishing outside off-stump in first innings, while in the second do, he edged a short ball to wicketkeeper BJ Watling. In 9 innings on this New Zealand tour, Kohli has managed just 201 runs with one score of fifty.

New Zealand opener Tom Latham has said that they have plans to tackle the Indian captain and extend his misery on this tour, thanks to the sideways movement available in Christchurch. Kohli’s aggressive streak led him to become over-eager to hit the ball and resulted in his cheap dismissals and Latham is counting on Kiwi bowlers to doing the same.

‘Virat Kohli is a quality player’: Tom Latham

“When Virat comes out to bat we will be ready. He is a quality player and there is a reason why he is up around that No 1 rank for such a period of time. He has done it for a long time and done it in all conditions. If the surface is conducive to the sideways movement we will try and exploit that,” Latham was quoted by India Today.

Virat Kohli is without a century in international cricket for 20 innings now, his longest such streak in cricket since his initial days in the game. His highest score has been 89 which came against Australia in an ODI in Bengaluru; while he scored 51 in the Hamilton ODI after this knock. Even his captaincy has come under scrutiny given that he stares at a series loss for the first time in the ongoing ICC World Test Championship.

In SENA (South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia) countries, Kohli has a record that is uninspiring. He lost 1-2 in South Africa in 2018, and then suffered a 1-4 defeat against England later that year. He managed to beat Australia 2-1 to become the first Indian captain to win a Test series down under. And now he either faces a series defeat or a draw at the most against New Zealand– not a record he can be proud of.

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