Won't let Virat Kohli settle into rhythm: Jake Ball

English fast bowler Jake Ball on Tuesday revealed that the visitors will try to unsettle Virat Kohli with a barrage of short balls and won’t allow him to settle in the 2nd ODI at Cuttack on Thursday. The Indian captain scored a match-winning 122 in the 1st ODI at Pune and along with Kedar Jadhav the duo clinched a sensational victory for India, which looked unrealistic after they were reduced to 63/4, chasing a tall target of 351. It was a brilliant double century partnership by the duo which enabled the Men in Blue to take a 1-0 lead in the 3 match series.

Both Kohli and Jadhav played some extraordinary shots and scored runs at will. The “Pocket-sized dynamite” from Maharashtra, Kedar Jadhav played some audacious shots and Kohli himself was in awe of the 31-year old’s strokeplay. While Kohli scored a 105 balls 122 which included 8 fours and 5 sixes, Jadhav was way ahead of his captain scoring 120 in a mere 76 deliveries. His innings was constructed with 12 fours and 4 hits over the fence.

Ball feels that short balls can be employed a bit more especially when the opposition team is batting under lights. I think that under the lights where it may skid on a bit more – you can use the shorter ball a little bit more…But I think it’s just trying to mix it up as much as you can…try not to let him get settled and hope he hits one up in the air,” Ball was quoted as saying by the BBC Radio 5 live.

“He’s an unbelievable player. We saw a lot of him in the Tests and he started the ODI series really well. “We’ve got plans for him and, hopefully, we can put them into practice in a couple of days’ time,” concluded the fast bowler who was the pick of the English bowlers in the opening ODI with figures of 3/67.

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