Virat Kohli under fire for 'impatient' act as Sunil Gavaskar criticizes reckless dismissal in Gabba Test

Despite facing a different opponent, Virat Kohli struggled with the age-old problem of fishing outside the off stump and was dismissed cheaply once again. This time, in the first innings of the Test against England at Lord's, Kohli went after a wide delivery bowled by James Anderson and ended up edging it to the slips, where Joe Root made no mistake in taking the catch.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar came down hard on the Indian batter, who has just managed three Test centuries in the last four years, saying there was no need for Kohli to play that shot as the ball was on the ‘seventh, eighth stump’.

Hazlewood's delivery landed a little fuller than the proper length delivery well. The ball which was well outside off, could have been left alone by Kohli but he ended up chasing it well away from his body as he tried to play a drive.

The result was on the expected lines as a simple outside edge was then pounced upon by Carey.

"If it was on the fourth stump I could understand," Gavaskar said on Channel 7.

“This was wide, on the seventh, eighth stump, you could say. There's no need to play that,” he added.

Sunil Gavaskar also stated that Kohli needed to show patience as India had already lost Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill to poor shots.

“He'd be very, very disappointed, he'd be very upset with that. Even before Rishabh Pant faced a ball, the rain started to come down and the covers have come on. If Kohli had shown a bit of patience he could be not out with KL Rahul,” said Gavaskar.

Kohli also lost his wicket in the second Test as he chased wide deliveries bowled outside his off-stump. The problem has been going on with Kohli since the start of his career and it has troubled him time and time again.

Several cricket pundits and fans have asked Kohli to take inspiration from how Sachin Tendulkar refrained from playing a cover drive during the Sydney Test against Australia in 2004 to score a fantastic double-century.

Kohli had earlier scored a century in the second innings of the Perth Test and this led to fans believing that the 36-year-old is back in form. However, the performances in Adelaide and the first innings of the Brisbane Test have a lot to be desired.

Before the start of 2021, Virat Kohli had the most Test centuries when it came to fab four (Kohli, Steve Smith, Kane Williamson, and Joe RooT). Fast forward to 2024, Kohli now has been leapfrogged by all three.

Joe Root now has 36 Test tons, Williamson 33,and Smith 33 while Kohli has 30 centuries to his name.