New Delhi: When things are not going your way, everything goes wrong. Virat Kohli is going through one such phase. Regarded as one of the best cricketers of the modern era, Kohli is going through a lean patch that doesn’t seem to end. Kohli was the talk of the town ahead of the landmark Border-Gavaskar Trophy, dominating space on the front pages of Australian dailies. The hype built around Kohli, who has a superb record on Australian shores, raised expectations of the fans but it was an anti-climatic event on Day at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
While fans have gotten used to seeing Kohli struggling with the bat in the past year or so, his fielding standards have always been high. However, in the last session, Kohli, uncharacteristically, dropped a sitter at second slip to give a lifeline to Marnus Labuschangne on duck.
While’s it’s too early to say that Kohli’s batting woes have impacted his overall game, it also true that poor form affects a player’s frame of mind and perhaps the iconic cricketer is going through one of those phases in his career.
It was a simple catch and at first glance, it looked like Kohli had caught it but the iconic cricketers spilled it while trying to celebrate. All of the other slip fielders and Bumrah thought the catch had been taken cleanly but Kohli himself signalled to his teammates about the drop.
WATCH: Kohli drops a sitter
Kohli drops a sitter & Marnus Labuschagne gets a life-line on nought.pic.twitter.com/SA85LnGhAA
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) November 22, 2024
Bumrah breathes fire
India captain Jasprit Bumrah led from the front and rattled the Australian top order after the visitors were bundled out for a paltry 150 in just two sessions. Bumrah dismissed debutant Nathan McSweeney in the third over before removing the dangerous Usman Khawaja and seasoned batter Steve Smith in back-to-back deliveries to give India a perfect start with the ball. Harshit Rana joined the party and dismissed Travis Head, India’s nemesis, with a peach of a delivery to get his maiden Test wicket on debut.
Earlier, Australian pacers, led by a disciplined Josh Hazlewood (4 for 29) bounced the Indian batters out after stand-in Bumrah had opted to bat first on a green track at the Optus Stadium. Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Marsh picked up two wickets a piece.
Nitish Reddy played a brave knock of 41 while Rishabh Pant scored 37 off 78 deliveries with the 48-run stand between the pair for the seventh wicket the only bright spot in India’s innings.
Border-Gavaskar Trophy: Virat Kohli dropped a simple catch at second slip as the horror run of star Indian cricketer continued in Test cricket. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
