Virat Kohli reveals 'promise' of mastering outside off-stump deliveries in captivating video from 4th Test

Kohli raised hopes of a resurgence in form during the home series against New Zealand in early November, when he scored a century in the second innings in Perth. However, his performance dipped in the following matches, with scores of 7, 11, and 3 in the next three innings across two Tests. As a result, he slipped below the 20th position in the ICC Test rankings.

More than the scores, what emerged as a bigger issue for Kohli was the re-emergence of his weakness against the deliveries outside the off-stump. Four of his five deliveries during the ongoing series came against such deliveries.

However, the former India captain was seen practising leaving the balls outside the off stump on Day 1 of the Melbourne Test when doing shadow practice.

Ahead of the start of the Test match, during one of his net sessions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Kohli was seen asking pacers to bowl down the channel of uncertainty.

'Can he bring the square cut out?'

Speaking to Star Sports, former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan urged Kohli to show that same discipline which he spotted during that viral video from the MCG Test, before asking the 36-year-old if he can bring the square cut out.

"Absolutely, there won't be a bigger opportunity than this because the series is at stake. It's embedded in his mind that he needs to leave balls outside the off-stump. When the match was ongoing on the first day, he was shadow-practicing that he needs to leave the ball. The discipline he was talking about, he needs to translate that into execution," he said.

"We expect him to bat with full passion and bring that discipline. I would also say that can he bring the square cut out. He doesn't play the sweep shot, but still plays them in between. So can he bring the square cut out because he will be trapped by bowling outside off-stump?" Pathan added.

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