In yesterday’s match against the Netherlands in Bangalore, there might be a question arising as to who bowled for India. In the innings where the Netherlands scored 160 runs and faced defeat, only Lokesh Rahul and Shreyas Iyer bowled for India. The other 9 players used as bowlers were captained by Rohit Sharma. Alongside regular bowlers, other names include Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, Rohit himself, and Suryakumar Yadav.
Kohli has, in fact, taken wickets while bowling, a feat achieved after 3,571 days in ODIs. His last international wicket came 7 years ago, during the 2016 T20 World Cup against West Indies. Kohli dismissed Dutch captain Scott Edwards as a wicketkeeper, catching the ball off Lokesh Rahul’s delivery.
In this context, he is referred to as a ‘Range-Footed’ bowler, starting to swing his arm before putting his front foot forward. It was this delivery that got Edwards out, even though the ball went quite far outside the leg stump. In an interview on BCCI TV, India’s bowling coach Paras Mhambrey also found it amusing. He told Kohli, ‘The delivery to get Edwards out was fantastic. It’s good to see Virat get a wicket. I’ve also seen him set a fine leg position for himself as a fielder. Kohli told Lokesh where to bowl. We have also discussed with Rohit how to use Virat in bowling. It’s a new ball for him.’
Virat Kohli, one of the world’s best batsmen, has not bowled much in international cricket. He has not taken any wickets in 11 innings in Tests, got 5 wickets in 50 innings in ODIs, and claimed 4 wickets in 13 innings in T20 Internationals.
Mhambrey wants to use Kohli as a bowler not just in this way. He doesn’t want to limit Kohli’s use in the middle overs and wants to challenge him to bowl in death overs as well. He said, ‘It was a challenge to bowl in the middle overs to Virat, which he did well in this match against the Netherlands. Now, we want to use him in the death overs as well. Let’s see what happens, but I believe his inswingers and yorkers will be effective against the right-handed batsmen. We will surely see something certain.’
