Australian pacer Scott Boland tied Virat Kohli in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Adelaide on Saturday, dismissing him in a fashion seen many times before by the former Indian skipper.
The delivery off the fourth stump once again snared someone, pitching at a good length and coming off a bit. Seeking to protect the ball, Kohli found himself hitting hard as he cushioned the pink ball safely in Carey’s gloves. Kohli’s departure for 11 runs off 21 balls left India at stumps on the second day with the loss of three wickets in just over 10 overs.
This has been Kohli’s consistent mode of dismissal over the years, with the slip-cordon behind him always ready for the ball to fly towards them. Although not much this year, the weakness remains.
In the first Test against Bangladesh in September, Kohli tried to drive the ball well beyond the off-stump but tickled the edge of it to find wicketkeeper Litton Das. Shortly after New Zealand toured India, spinners Glenn Phillips and Aijaz Patel caught Kohli’s outside edge.
Coming into the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Australia set their plans in stone for India’s No. 4, who batted in the upper region. In the first Test in Perth, Josh Hazlewood pitched the ball slightly short, the bounce taking Kohli by surprise. Batting outside the crease, Kohli tried his best to get away from the rising ball but couldn’t stop the edge that flew past Usman Khawaja at slip. Despite his second innings in Perth, the story was repeated in Adelaide, when Mitchell Starc swung the pink-ball to keep Kohli under the pump. In the process of deciding whether or not to drop the ball, Kohli crossed the outside edge to slip, yet again.
An important reason why Virat’s average has now dropped to 48 is the unfortunate weakness in the outside. But more importantly his determination not to try another way to deal with it.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) December 6, 2024
Boland, who is in form, earlier removed opener Yashasvi Jaiswal in his first ball this evening and took two important wickets. The collapse of the top order meant that India were 128 for five, 29 short of Australia’s first innings lead.