Men’s ODI WC: Might see heavy use of Adam Zampa through middle phase against Kohli, says Copeland

New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) In international cricket, Australia’s Adam Zampa has dismissed talismanic India’s Virat Kohli on eight occasions and former cricketer Trent Copeland believes one might see the leg-spinner being used heavily in middle overs phase to counter the talismanic right-handed batter during the World Cup final on Sunday.

Kohli is currently the leading run-getter of the 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup with 711 runs in 10 matches, averaging 101.57 at a strike rate of 90.68. On the other hand, Zampa is the second-highest wicket-taker in the competition with 22 scalps at an average of 21.40 and an economy rate of 5.47.

“Kohli is just so good against everyone. Adam Zampa is the one that stands out and in Indian conditions, it’s a matchup that is pretty good for Australia. If Virat gets through the quicks, then we will see heavy use of Adam Zampa through that middle phase,” said Copeland on SEN Radio.

Kohli enters Sunday’s final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on the back of making his 50th ODI century against New Zealand in the semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium, breaking the all-time record previously held by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar.

Copeland firmly believes Australia will be putting plenty of time into planning to stop Kohli from drawing their strategies for the title clash, where the Pat Cummins-led side will be aiming to grab an unprecedented sixth title.

“If you’re looking at a percentage of time spent on opposition batters, Kohli will take up 80 per cent of the meeting. That is the significance of this player. You are looking at the greatest ODI player of all time. He is in a rich vein of form and it’s not as if you can hit the top of off stump and back yourself to be better than him.”

“You will have to come up with unique situations and potentially part-timers might be something to throw at him when he doesn’t expect it. Also, we need to work out how we can ice him. When he’s absolutely flying, one of the tactics should be (what) can I do to get Virat at the non-striker’s end for a period of time and get him out of his groove,” he concluded.

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