Former India batsman VVS Laxman said that Virat Kohli has been repeating the old habit of shuffling too much outside the off stump. Laxman stated that Kohli is doing it a lot more than he did during the 2018 England tour, when he got success as well.

Virat Kohli amassed 42 on Day 1 of the Lord’s Test against England but did not look comfortable at the crease. He had got lives a few times also before Ollie Robinson dismissed him with the new ball was taken.

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Reviewing Kohli’s innings, Laxman told ESPN Cricinfo: “The England bowlers bowled to very well planned and disciplined line and lengths to him. They know that the area to attack Kohli is on and around the off stump. It is very clear that he doesn’t enjoy the ball in that region. They also tried to bring back the odd ball back in, which could hit Virat Kohli on the pads. There was also a barrage of bouncers when (Mark) Wood was bowling.”

“I was watching and comparing the shuffle of Virat Kohli from 2018 to the current Test series. And I just feel that in 2018, he wasn’t moving so much as he is doing now. That is the reason he is not able to play his shots outside off stump a lot more freely. Subconsciously, he feels that those balls are supposed to be left. I just feel the combination of disciplined bowling and good execution of plans from the English bowlers and also the shuffle, which is more than what it was in 2018,” he further added.

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VVS Laxman also compared his shuffle in 2018 to KL Rahul’s in this series as well. He explained: “If you look at Kohli’s shuffle in 2018, it was very similar to what KL Rahul has displayed in the two Test matches so far. Once he is able to do that (adjust his shuffle), Kohli will be able to play shots on both sides of the wicket. At the moment, if you see, at times his leg stump was also exposed because he was shuffling too much.”

However, Team India managed 364 runs in their first innings where KL Rahul smashed a century as well.