IND vs AUS 2022-23, 2nd Test: Virat Kohli sweats out against spinners on a roughed-up track

A gleaming jet-black Porsche arrived at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi at least half an hour before the arrival of the Team India bus. Out came former Indian skipper and current top-order batter Virat Kohli, entering the dressing room. Within minutes he came out, padded up and headed towards the nets.

Kohli desired extra batting time and reached earlier for a session. He started with customary throw-downs and some knocking off against the net bowlers. Once a youthful guy, bowling military medium, was pulled sceptically off his backfoot, he demanded spinners. "Spinners ko bulaao [Bring the spinners]," he said and proceeded to the other net, where he worked on tackling them.

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Kohli looked at the rough prepared on that training track and used his boots to construct more bruises. Batting coach Vikram Rathour suggested areas where he could make cuts and let the ball talk. The idea was to contradict the wild deviation off the surface where the ball lands on the rough and can turn on either side.

India A regular Saurabh Kumar, the expert left-arm spinner from Uttar Pradesh, did ask a few probing queries. There was a ball where Kohli went on the back foot. The ball didn't bounce after landing. It was a kind of "shooter" that didn't ascend. Kohli had a twisted smile and darted at the surface.

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There were two off-spinners, net bowlers Pulkit Narang and Hrithik Shokeen, who tossed up and sometimes mixed it up with a flatter orbit. On the day, he regularly came down the track to cover the rough, driving Shokeen and Narang during that session. He could have been smoother, to begin with, as some of the strokes weren't off the middle of the bat.

Kohli's struggles against spinners have been honest, and the Delhi track will be another sluggish turner like Nagpur, if not slower. He was caught down the leg while trying to drive off-spinner Todd Murphy in the Nagpur Test. There was a grass covering, but anyone who knows how the Delhi pitch acts will tell you that it is more about maintaining the tight bind of the surface.

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But, some moisture underneath the surface during the morning session will help the bowlers. But Delhi is a track where both run-making and wicket-taking are arduous jobs. Kohli's desperation to spend an extra hour at the nets and prepare himself to put his best foot forward is necessary, as run-scoring will be a struggle.

(With inputs from PTI)