Sunil Gavaskar sceptical on Virat Kohli's form; gives tips to solve batting problem

Team India skipper Virat Kohli continues to struggle with his form in the ongoing series against England with the Indian skipper once failing to register a big score despite getting the start. By the end of Day 4 in the ongoing Lord's Test, India has managed to take 154 run lead thanks to Ajinkya Rahane's 61 runs and a fighting knock of 45 runs from Cheteshwar Pujara. Kohli's innings was cut short by Sam Curran who had him caught behind for just 20 runs with the Indian skipper once again dismissed while playing for the ball just outside the off-stump. Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar questioned Kohli's approach towards batting.

England vs India: Sunil Gavaskar on Virat Kohli's dismissal

While openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul have laid some solid foundation by providing a good start, Pujara and Kohli have failed to capitalise on it. While showing concerns over Kohli's pattern of dismissal Gavaskar while speaking on Sony Sports Network said  " That method has been successful for him. He has got 8000 Test runs with that back and across movement. But he is playing at deliveries way outside off stump and a little too early in the innings. This time around, the foot is somewhere else, the bat is somewhere else, which means that he hasn’t really played well. It could be about this much-talked-about word intent but in a five-day game, every batsman goes in to score runs. It’s the method that differs,".

He further added "When you talk about this 'trying to take this attack to the opposition' approach, and if that is what intent is, it can get you into trouble like we saw. I think every batsman should be left alone to find his own method. This is a Test match. In ODI and T20I, it’s a completely different situation, but over here, what they need to look into is get themselves in and try to play in the old-fashioned V. Play only when you have fought through," 

Recap of Day 4 in England vs India Lord's Test

On Day 4 of Lord's Test, India lost in-form opener, KL Rahul, early following a brilliant delivery from Mark Wood which caught the edge of the opener's bat and went into the gloves of Jos Butler. Rohit Sharm was also looking brilliant with the bat before he was dismissed while trying to pull a short pitch delivery. Kohli (20 off 31) made a promising start before poking at a wide Sam Curran delivery to leave his team in deeper trouble at the stroke of lunch.

With their in-form openers and skipper Virat Kohli back in the hut at 55 for three and India effectively ahead by only 28 runs, Pujara (45 off 206) and Rahane (61 off 146) thrived under tremendous pressure to bat for almost 50 overs for a 100-run stand, taking the game to day five. Both Pujara and Rahane, who were desperately searching for runs, showed the grit and determination that they are known for to get back among the runs. They might not have scored big hundreds but the number of balls they consumed kept the visitors in the game.

Rahane got a life on 31 when he was dropped by Jonny Bairstow off Moeen Ali. When bad light forced early stumps on day four, India reached 181 for six, leading England by 154 runs. Rishabh Pant (14 batting off 29) will need some support from the long Indian tail to add some valuable runs on the fifth morning.