Virat Kohli’s run of poor scores continued on Sunday at Manchester for England’s third and final ODI when he was dismissed at point-blank range by pacer Reece Topley. The 17 runs included three fours, and then Virat Kohli was caught behind trying to push the ball by a slog from Reece Topley that was moving away from him. Virat Kohli hinted he might be ready to shatter the chains which had been scrutinising his batsmanship, taking three fours off David Willey before Reece Topley struck once more, angle-swinging a ball of length over his body to draw out a slight edge which went to the wicketkeeper.
In the ninth over bowled by pacer Reece Topley, Virat Kohli’s edged outside leg to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler from a delivery delivered at full-length, falling in the middle and angled wide. From 31 for four, the way back was a long one for India, and it got more complicated as captain Jos Buttler called back pacer Reece Topley to attack.
Many players on the Indian side can replace Virat Kohli and help the team get extra runs. The string of low scores for Kohli has been a worrying problem for the team, team selectors and Kohli himself. We know the people who play fantasy cricket games have also been troubled by this, but don’t worry; we got you covered.
Since Kohli has shown his ability to score runs in the past, many of you will select him for your team just for that. But since he has not been able to score runs in the last few series, he is not rewarded with the points that will benefit your team. We have come up with a few players that can replace him, make a substantial impact, and get some points for your team.
1. Surya Kumar Yadav (SKY)- Since making his debut in international cricket, he has been in good touch. Also, he has added valuable runs for the teams, and he is the one who can replace Kohli in a one-down position.
2. Shreyas Iyer – Iyer has the potential to take up the stage and play in the one-down position; with the technique, he’s got in him, he can very well play the fast swing bowling and the spin as well.
3. Mayank Agarwal – Though he has not been included in the ODI team as much as he has been included in the Test team, he has the calibre in him to perform at the big stages, and we all have seen that in the domestic cricket league of India known as IPL.
Earlier, Virat Kohli had raised a few eyebrows among the experts when he chose to bowl the first overs in a good batting line-up, failing to chase the target of 247 to lose the second ODI by 100 runs. Virat Kohli’s troubles with the bat continued to plague him in the third and final ODI against England. The struggling Indian batter finishes the tour with the highest score of 20 in six international innings in the three formats.
