Target Virat Kohli's front foot and body: Ian Healy's advice to Aussie quicks ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy
Ian Healy suggested the Australian trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc should target Virat Kohli's front foot and even resort to "body bashing" with short-pitched deliveries.
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Legendary Australian wicketkeeper Ian Healy has called on his country's pace attack to use every tactic possible to dismiss Indian superstar Virat Kohli in the upcoming five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy, starting Friday in Perth. Healy suggested the Australian trio of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, and Mitchell Starc should target Kohli's front foot and even resort to "body bashing" with short-pitched deliveries.
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Although Kohli has been struggling with form recently, managing just two centuries and 11 fifties in his last 60 Test innings, he maintains a strong average of 54.0 in Australia. Healy believes this makes him a key wicket and has urged the Australian bowlers to keep Kohli on the back foot.
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"The first matchup I'm looking at is how our quicks can bowl to Virat Kohli, and I think they should target his front pad quite often," Healy told SEN Radio. "He sits that front foot there and he can play from anywhere -- he can play square on the off-side, he can whip onto the leg-side or he can rock back … but they've got to look for any sort of insecurity in his form and maybe target that front pad."
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Healy, who played 119 Tests and scored nearly 4,500 runs, believes the Australian pacers should not focus on targeting Kohli's front foot too regularly, as the Indian great could eventually figure out the tactic. "Don't do it every ball because he'll get used to it... it's the impact ball that has to be on the front pad after he is set up with seam," he said.
If the tactic fails, Healy wants the bowlers to shift their focus to targeting Kohli's body. "If that's (front-foot tactic) not working, body bash. Bowl at the back armpit, that's the right arm as a right-handed batsman... and it’s got to be hot," Healy added.
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"Have him jumping at times if he wants to ride those deliveries -- ducking, weaving or bending backwards. Get that short leg position right next to him on the leg side and if you need a bumper, it's got to go at the badge. He might try to bust out of a hard spell with a hook shot or pull shot and that will be hard to control if it's badge height," opined Healy.
"So that's the second tactic, body bashing," he concluded.
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