'Virat Kohli's Mistake: Pietersen's Warning to Learn from Joe Root's Dismissal to Rashid'

Kohli's recent form raised concerns for India as they entered the ICC tournament. After struggling in red-ball cricket and putting up a poor performance in the Ranji Trophy last month, Kohli only managed to score five runs in the second ODI against England on Sunday, where he was dismissed by Rashid. Kohli had missed the series opener due to a swollen knee, adding to the uncertainties surrounding his fitness and performance.

However, on Wednesday, he bounced back to form as he smashed his 73rd ODI fifty, en route to India setting a 357-run target to England.

While the knock came as huge relief to India, Pietersen, speaking to Star Sports during a mid-innings interaction, was not happy with his former RCB teammate falling to Rashid for the 11th time in his career. He reckoned Kohli should have gone for the big score.

"He shouldn't be getting out to that ball. He's a much better player than that. And he will be kicking himself. That ball is bowled slowly through the air. So he shouldn't have been over-committed on the front foot. He should have played back to it. He should have punched it into the offside, and he would still have been batting and he probably would have gone on to get a big score," he said.

Virat Kohli told to ‘watch Joe Root’

Further assessing the dismissal, Pietersen reckoned Joe Root would never get dismissed to a delivery like that as he told Kohli to watch his contemporary.

“You can see where it hits from side on angle. That hits the top of the bat. That hits the splice of the bat. Which means that he got his lengths wrong. That's nowhere near the middle of his bat. Have a look at that,” he said.

“That's where you can see where the ball has made contact with the bat. Look how far forward his bat is in front of his pad. This means he's got the length wrong and he's too good a player to get out like that. He shouldn't be doing it. He shouldn't be giving Adel Rashid that chance to get his wicket. You watch Joe Root. He will never be over-committed on the front foot like that. No way.”

ICC Champions Trophy , ICC Champions Trophy Schedule , and Champions Trophy 2025 Points Table – stay ahead with real-time match updates, team standings, and insights. Check live cricket score , player stats, and ICC rankings of top players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli . Get expert analysis, match previews, and in-depth coverage of Pakistan vs South Africa LIVE SCORE, India vs England Live Score and IPL 2025, all on HT Crickit, powered by Hindustan Times – your trusted source for cricket news. .freemium-card h4{color:#fff; padding-bottom:20px;} .freemium-card .freemium-content .subcTxt{padding-bottom:16px; color:#fff;} .freemium-card .freemium-content{width: auto; max-width: inherit;} .freemium-card .freemium-content .subcTxt{max-width:inherit; font-size:18px; padding-top:0; line-height:24px} .freemium-card .btnSubc{margin} .freemium-card .btnSubc a{background:#000; color:#fff; min-width:auto; padding:5px 15px; border-radius:6px; font-size:16px; line-height:22px; font-weight:700;} .freemium-card{height:285px} @media (max-width: 767px) { .freemium-card h4{font-size:28px} .freemium-card .freemium-content{max-width:360px; padding: 20px;} .freemium-card{height:303px; background-position: 100% 0; } }