England vs India | Indian commentators quite harsh on Virat Kohli, Ben Stokes’s ball unplayable: Graeme Swann
India Today
India tour of England: Former England spinner Graeme Swann said he feels Indian commentators are a bit too harsh when it comes to their assessment of Virat Kohli’s batting. Swann’s take came after an ‘unplayable’ Ben Stokes delivery got the former captain out for 20 on Day 3 of the rescheduled 5th Test.
Former England off-spinner Graeme Swann jumped to the defence of Virat Kohli after the former India captain was dismissed for 20 in India’s 2nd innings on Day 3 of the rescheduled Test against England in Birmingham.
Swann said Ben Stokes’s delivery that got Kohli out could have been unplayable to any batter from any era and it is not fair to point fingers at the star batter for not managing to convert his start into a big knock.
Kohli was looking assured in the middle during his steady stand with opener Cheteshwar Pujara as he got for 20, hitting a few of his trademark drives. However, in the 30th over of the Indian innings, the right-hander was caught at first slip by Joe Root after a length delivery kicked off and hit the outside edge of the top part of his blade.
Kohli was playing the delivery of the front foot but the extra bounce did him in. It was a difficult take behind the stumps as wicketkeeper Sam Billings fluffed it only for the deflection to be caught by Root.
Speaking to Sony Sports on Sunday, Swann said he feels Indian commentators are quite harsh on Kohli at times.
“You can say what you want, I don’t care, who is batting in any period of Test history if you can survive that delivery you are very, very lucky. That is unplayable. It’s a lucky catch in the end,” Swann said.
“Regardless, if you are looking to get on the front foot, back foot that ball is a ripsnorter. For an English point of view, I often find that whenever Indian commentators talk about Virat, I always think ‘wow they are quite harsh on him’. The standards are so high for Virat, I thought he was very at ease today,” he added.
