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Published 16:50 IST, February 9th 2023

Mark Waugh rips into Virat Kohli's slip catching technique; 'He is just not in the game'

Looking at Kohli's unsuccessful effort, former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh criticised the Indian player saying that his technique wasn't right for the catch

Reported by: Vishal Tiwari
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Mark Waugh
Image: Twitter/BCCI | Image: self

Former India captain Virat Kohli is currently playing the ongoing first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. During the 16th over of the first innings, Kohli dropped an easy catch while fielding at the slip, handing a massive reprieve to Australian batsman Steve Smith. The incident occurred on the very first ball of the over after Axar Patel bowled a quickish delivery. 

Smith went for a drive but ended up edging the ball which flew rapidly to Kohli's right. Kohli tried to catch the ball by getting his right hand out but he failed to grab it in time, providing Smith with another life at the crease. Looking at Kohli's unsuccessful effort, former Australian cricketer Mark Waugh criticised the Indian player saying that his technique wasn't right for the catch. Waugh said Kohli was very high-up in his position and could have stayed down a little bit. 

"Your legs have to be lot closer to be able to move quickly. Kohli was very high-up in his position. Should have stayed down a bit. He should have done a little bit better. Almost as if he wasn’t expecting it," Waugh said while commentating on Day 1 of the first Test match in Nagpur. 

"He's a pretty good fielder but there are a few technical things that he can work on. Those chances that dropped they both came quickly. Maybe change a couple  of things, the way he stands etc then he won't drop anymore catches," Waugh explained at Stumps. 

Smith went on to score 37 off 107 balls including seven boundaries before being dismissed by Ravindra Jadeja, who also picked four more wickets to register a five-wicket haul in the match. Marnus Labuschagne finished as Australia's highest run-scorer with 49 off 123 balls. Australia were bowled out for just 177 runs thanks to Jadeja's brilliant bowling performance. Ravichandran Ashwin also picked a three-wicket haul to his name. India are currently batting at a score of 76-1 in 22.5 overs. KL Rahul has been dismissed for 20 off 71 balls by debutant Todd Murphy.   

India vs Australia: Playing XIs

India's XI: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Srikar Bharat, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj.

Australia's XI: David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Matt Renshaw, Peter Handscomb, Alex Carey, Pat Cummins (c), Todd Murphy, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.

Image: Twitter
 

Updated 16:54 IST, February 9th 2023