cricket

Updated: Aug 21, 2018 13:02 IST

Virat Kohli’s masterclass in the England Test series has left the hosts’ assistant coach Paul Farbrace gushing, and urging his batsmen to learn from how the world’s best batsman has dominated quality bowling in seaming conditions.

The India skipper has showed oodles of patience to score two brilliant centuries in the series. The highlight of his 149 in the Edgbaston Test was his self-denial as England spearhead James Anderson’s probing line outside off-stump.

His 103 at Trent Bridge, for his 23rd century on Monday, was another composed knock, reining in his natural aggression to steer his team towards a famous win that will help narrow the series lead to 1-2. Kohli again showed great technique to tackle swing bowling, especially Anderson.

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He has amassed 440 runs so far in the five-Test series, a remarkable turnaround for a player who made a meagre 134 runs from 10 innings on the 2014 tour. As England began their fight for survival after being set an improbable target of 521, Farbrace hoped his batsmen would show character and stave off defeat.

Asked if the Trent Bridge knock made Kohli the best batsman in the world, Farbrace told reporters: “You would be hard-pressed to argue against him being seen as the best player in the world at the moment.

“The way that he has developed, played through this series; he has played fantastically. It’s fantastic to see someone playing the game in that way.

“He’s a high-quality player and he’s shown that he’s learned a lot on this tour alone. The way he has tinkered (with technique), the way he has practised and worked on his game, he thoroughly deserves the runs he’s scored.

England’s woeful slip catching though has helped Kohli. In Edgbaston, he was dropped by Dawid Malan on 21 off Anderson. He was also dropped on 51 in that knock. In Trent Bridge, the edge off Anderson when on 93 was let through his hands and legs by gully fielder Keaton Jennings for four.

Farbrace said: “Our bowlers might argue that he’s been given too many chances, but the bloke has shown he is high quality.

“I’m a big believer in players learning from players. I think our players should be watching the way he has played, the way he lets the ball come. He almost takes the third and fourth slips out of the game the way he plays at the ball.

“So, you are looking for the best players to learn from the best players and trying to adapt their game to suit (them). And there is no better exponent of that than him.”

‘Dropping catches can be soul-destroying’

Though England won, the pace spearhead was left holding his head in dismay after Keaton Jennings let a nick from Kohli again through his hands. On 93 then, he hit 103 to put India in a perfect position to clinch victory.

Anderson was also left fuming after Cheteshwar Pujara, on 40, was dropped by Jos Buttler at second slip. Pujara made 72 in a 113-run stand with Kohli.

READ: It is not always about scoring big hundreds, says Cheteshwar Pujara

“We’ve got some good catchers, but you can’t keep shelling chances the way we are. That comes down to two things; concentration not being good enough, or confidence, when you start to miss chances that starts to eat away at you.

“Our bowlers stuck at the job really well. 70 runs scored in the first session, and we keep plugging away. When bowlers are creating opportunities and catches are being dropped, that can be soul-destroying.”

Farbrace slammed the England batsmen for not showing intent in the first innings, where England were bundled out for 161 in a single session on Day 2.

“The key for us is showing the right intent, and from yesterday’s innings that would be the biggest disappointment. We lost two wickets in two balls, and the intent went out of our innings.

“We can defend, and we can say we’ve got lots of good players, and players at different stages of their careers, but the key is to show you can do it in the middle. They played well tonight, but it’s about continuing that on. Intent doesn’t just mean scoring quickly; it means defending well, leaving well, rotating strike.