Virat Kohli’s wicket was a dream come true moment for Todd Murphy, who made his Test debut in the series opener of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Nagpur on Thursday. Batting icon Kohli showcased a rare batting failure in the 1st innings as the former India skipper was dismissed for cheap by spinner Murphy on Day 2 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium. Dissecting Kohli’s dismissal, former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri observed that the veteran batter was unlucky to get dismissed in an unusual manner at Nagpur.
After stroking a couple of glorious drives, Kohli ended up gifting away his wicket in the 53rd over bowled by Murphy. Kohli was dismissed on the first ball after Lunch. Australian wicketkeeper Alex Carey plucked a sharp catch after Kohli played an unimpressive flick shot which eventually reduced India to 151-4 in the 1st innings. Coming out in Kohli’s defense, Shastri made an interesting remark about the star batter’s cheap dismissal.
“That’s unlucky. That’s strangled down the leg side. I mean once in 50 innings he will get out in that fashion. Let’s not talk about technique or an off-spinner getting him out. Forget all that. He is out, bad luck, but it was the right thing from Australia’s point of view because they needed a wicket. Straight up after that, you get the momentum going,” Shastri told Star Sports.
Kohli scored 12 off 26 balls in India’s first essay at Nagpur. The 34-year-old has struggled to get going against spinners in his recent outings. While New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner managed to get the better of Kohli in India’s previous home assignment, the former Indian skipper was dismissed by spinners on two occasions in the Bangladesh Test series.
The batting maestro has slammed four centuries in international cricket since September 2022. Kohli last scored a Test century in 2019. The Indian run machine is on the cusp of completing 25,000 runs in international cricket. Kohli capped off a forgetful series when Australia last toured India in 2017. The star batter had scored only 46 runs in the three Test matches at the time.
Averaging almost 50, the former Indian skipper has accumulated 1694 runs against Australia in the longest and oldest format of the game. The swashbuckling batter has amassed over 8130 runs in 105 Test matches for Team India. Kohli made his Test debut against the West Indies at Sabina Park in 2011.
