Indian cricket team star batter Virat Kohli once again disappointed his fans as he was dismissed for just 17 on Day 1 of the fifth Test match against Australia in Sydney on Friday. However, things could have been worse as Kohli survived a massive scare on the very first ball of his innings. With India struggling at 17/2, Kohli walked out to bat but he was off to the worst possible start. He edged an outside off-stump delivery to the second slip fielder Steve Smith. The catch was completed by the gully fielder after Smith scooped it up but the review ended with the TV umpire ruling that the ball actually touched the ground. Virat’s wife Anushka Sharma was in attendance and her reaction to the incident has gone viral.
Just missed a beat there!
ICYMI, #ViratKohli was dropped by #SteveSmith on the very first ball he faced!#AUSvINDOnStar5th Test, Day 1 LIVE NOW! | #ToughestRivalry #BorderGavaskarTrophy pic.twitter.com/iLhCzXCYST
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 3, 2025
Meanwhile, Virat Kohli’s latest failure in Test Cricket has witnessed him joining an unfortunate list of players, involving bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Keshav Maharaj and Shoaib Bashir instead of batters. He has the second-lowest average while batting in first innings of a Test since 2024 and has been outshined by many tailenders, including Bumrah.
Virat achieved this unique, but an absolutely undesirable stat during the Sydney Test against Australia, which is the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. During his innings, Virat battled hard for 69 balls and got out for just 17 runs without a boundary. His struggles with the outside off stump deliveries continued and pacer Scott Boland dismissed him for the third time in this series.
Since the start of 2024, Virat has batted in the first innings of a Test five times and scored just 35 runs across five innings at an average of 7.00 and best score of 17.
In the first innings, he has had scores of 17, 7, 5, 0 and 6.
Virat has the second-lowest Test average since 2024 while batting in the first innings of a Test, with South African spinner Keshav having an average of 5.4 with 27 runs in five innings and the best score of 24.
At third is English spinner Shoaib Bashir with an average of 8.33, with 25 runs in seven innings and best score of 11.
(With ANI inputs)
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