Former Indian batter and presenter Mohammad Kaif has reckoned that the lack of game time was the reason behind Virat Kohli getting out LBW off Jofra Archer in the first ODI, on Tuesday, July 14.
It’s worth noting that Kohli was dismissed only once via LBW against pacers between 2013 and 2023 during the ICC World Cup 2019 semi-final against New Zealand seamer Trent Boult. However, since January 2023, he has been out LBW four times off seamers.
Speaking exclusively on Cricbuzz, Kaif has reckoned that with Kohli playing very little professional cricket, he couldn’t move his legs in the back and across movement takes some time.
“Look, he gets out very rarely, like he got out today. Yes, they do get out, but very rarely. The reason he does is that when you don’t play matches consistently. I can understand that after playing IPL, he will have a break, and his conditions are different. When you are not in rhythm continuously, then the preparation of your legs in the back and across movement takes some time,” Kaif said on Cricbuzz.
“If you look before that ball, Archer bowled a short ball to him. It was a bouncer. Then he bowled a full ball. So sometimes when you don’t play continuously, you don’t get the rhythm. Then he hits a four on this ball. His favourite ball was on the legside,” Kaif added.
“LBWs are very rare. He always scores runs on that ball, uses wrists, the bottom hand comes into play,” Kaif said.
For the unversed, Kohli returned to professional cricket since the IPL 2026 final for the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). He was ruled out of the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan due to a hamstring injury.
“So because of this, I feel that sometimes in the initial stages, this straight ball, which was a full ball, he read it and came on a little but he misses it and plays it across the line. This happens very rarely, but it has happened when Virat Kohli starts his innings. He gets trapped early on many times,” he concluded.
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