Stuart Broad's specific plan to exploit Virat Kohli's drive outside off stump during India's 2014 England tour — taking his wicket four times in the series through the same channel — contributed to Kohli's disastrous tour (134 runs at 13.4) and a rare period of sustained vulnerability for the world's future number-one batsman.
Virat Kohli was 25 in 2014 and had already scored 20 Test centuries. India's selectors and the cricketing world expected him to dominate England's pace attack in English conditions as he had dominated conditions in the subcontinent.
Stuart Broad had 300+ Test wickets and understood English conditions intimately. He had studied Kohli's footwork — noting a tendency for his feet to stay slightly inside the line of deliveries aimed wide outside off stump, leaving the outside edge exposed.
England's pre-series preparation included extensive video analysis. Both Anderson and Broad had specific plans for Kohli and tested them in the series opener at Trent Bridge. Kohli's dismissal pattern in the first Test confirmed the plan was working.
India's 2014 tour of England was Virat Kohli's worst series in any form. Stuart Broad, working in combination with James Anderson, targeted Kohli's tendency to play at wide deliveries outside off stump without properly adjusting his foot position. Broad — taller than Anderson, generating extra bounce with his high action — delivered balls at fourth-stump line that Kohli drove at, finding the outside edge repeatedly. Broad dismissed Kohli four times in the series. India's most important batting player averaged 13.4 — one of cricket's most dramatic individual series failures. England won 3-1.
Trent Bridge: Broad delivers fourth-stump ball — Kohli's drive finds outside edge — caught slip for 1
Lord's: Same ball, same drive, same result — Kohli for 8
Southampton: Kohli lasts 44 balls before the same outside edge dismissal — for 18
By this point: commentators can name the delivery that will dismiss Kohli before it's bowled
India's most important batsman averages 13.4 for the series; England win 3-1
2014-07-09
Trent Bridge: Broad dismisses Kohli for 1; fourth-stump plan immediately visible
2014-07-17
Lord's: Same dismissal, same channel — Kohli for 8
2014-09-09
Series ends: England win 3-1; Kohli averages 13.4
“Virat was driving at deliveries he shouldn't have driven. His feet weren't quite to the ball. We kept the ball in that channel and it kept working.”
“2014 was the worst series of my career. I came back in 2018 determined to show England and myself that I had fixed what was wrong.”
“The thing is, once the cameras show everyone where Kohli's weakness is, every captain in the world has a plan. It's difficult to be Virat in 2014.”
Kohli returned to England in 2018 and scored 593 runs at 59.3 — confirming the 2014 failure was a solvable technical problem he addressed. He acknowledged the 2014 experience as the most embarrassing of his career and the most motivating for future preparation.
Broad continued his Test career until 2023, finishing with 604 wickets. The 2014 Kohli demolition was his most celebrated individual series accomplishment.
Broad and Anderson together produced the most effective bowling plan against a world-class batsman in recent memory — Kohli's average of 13.4 is historically anomalous for a batsman of his quality. Broad's specific contribution of four dismissals through the same channel was the mechanically precise element of the demolition.
The 2014 Broad-Kohli encounters are the definitive modern example of a bowler identifying and systematically exploiting a technical weakness in a world-class batsman's game. They also show the pathway to correction — Kohli's 2018 return was one of cricket's great rehabilitation narratives.
Australia vs Pakistan
22 November 1981
Dennis Lillee kicked Javed Miandad on the field, prompting Miandad to raise his bat as if to strike Lillee. Umpire Tony Crafter intervened to separate them.
New Zealand vs West Indies
12 February 1980
Michael Holding kicked the stumps out of the ground in frustration after an LBW appeal was turned down against John Parker.
West Indies vs Australia
28 April 1995
Curtly Ambrose got in Steve Waugh's face after being told to go back to his mark. Richie Richardson had to pull Ambrose away. Ambrose then bowled a devastating spell.