Watch: Not long after Joe Root baffled England fans by balancing his bat vertically on its toe during a Test match against New Zealand, Virat Kohli attempted something similar in India’s warm-up game against Leicestershire, but without much luck.
Root’s wizardry as a batter has been on full display over the past 18 months, totting up 10 Test centuries since the start of 2021, and his ability to stand his bat straight upwards without toppling confirmed, for many, that his skills had crossed into the realm of the truly magical.
Kohli, meanwhile, has seen his stocks plummet from being arguably the greatest cross-format batter the game has seen to experiencing a stretch of nearly three years without a hundred in any form of cricket.
Their contrasting form extended to Kohli’s attempts to balance his own bat on its end during India’s warm-up game against Leicestershire. During the 23rd over of the innings, while batting with Ravindra Jadeja, Kohli attempted first to balance his bat on one side and then the other, but to no avail.
Kohli ended as one of India’s more successful batters on the day, with him and KS Bharat the only two batters to pass 30. Kohli hit five fours and pulled a six off his compatriot Prasidh Krishna before falling lbw to Roman Walker, who picked up a five-wicket haul.
Watch Kohli attempt to balance his bat below:
After Joe roots magic which was seen on the pitch by balancing the bat @imVkohli trying the same 😂 pic.twitter.com/eWJqIya2FE
— Virat de Villiers (@imVKohli83) June 23, 2022
