Ashton Agar reveals what makes bowling to Virat Kohli massively frustrating

Australian orthodox spinner Ashton Agar explained what makes bowling to Virat Kohli a frustrating affair for the bowlers. Agar highlighted that Kohli rotates the strike at regular intervals in ODIs and it is not easy to keep him on strike for a longer time.

The talisman scored a match-winning knock of 84 runs off 98 balls in the run chase of 265 against Australia in the semifinal of the Champions Trophy at Dubai on Tuesday. Kohli scored only five fours in his knock and as always rotated the strike in the middle overs. The veteran took 56 singles as he frustrated the Australian bowlers.

Earlier in the tournament, Kohli had scored an unbeaten 100 off 111 balls in the high-octane clash against Pakistan and he had only scored seven fours in that knock.

Speaking to ESPN Cricinfo, Ashton Agar said, “That’s the frustrating part about bowling to him. It’s not just the damage he does with boundaries—it’s the fact that you can’t build pressure on him. You never really feel like you’re on top of him unless the ball is really spinning. And you don’t get a lot of pitches like that in one-day cricket.”

Agar admitted it is difficult to build pressure on Kohli as he gets off strike at regular intervals.

“He has this fantastic ability to hit your best ball—the top of middle stump, slightly spinning away—by holding the bat’s face slightly longer than others do. He opens it at the last second and hits it in the cover-point gap. He’s probably the best in the world at doing that, and it’s very difficult to build pressure on him,” the 31-year-old went on to add.

Kohli has been at his best in the ODI format and he also completed 8000 runs in run-chases in the 50-over version. 

India will take on New Zealand in the summit clash of the Champions Trophy at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai on Sunday.