Batting maestro Virat Kohli was visibly heartbroken after his dismissal on Day 3 of the second Test against New Zealand, which India lost by 113 runs in Pune to concede the series. He was dismissed on 17 by Mitchell Santner, sparking an India batting collapse. With a mammoth target of 359 in front of them, India needed Kohli to stand tall with the Rohit Sharma and others already back in the hut. While Kohli did get a decent start, he was undone by a beautiful delivery from Santer, who got it to zip quickly off the surface. The ball hit him straight in front of the leg stump and umpire Richard Illingworth raised his finger.
While Kohli was to quick to review the call, the ball tracking showed that the ball would’ve gone on to clip the leg stump, meaning the decision can’t be overturned.
Kohli, of course, did not like the decision one bit. He was visibly disappointed at the call and hurled a mouthful after hesitating to walk back to the dressing room.
Now, a day after India’s loss, a fresh video of Kohli’s reaction following his dismissal has gone viral. In the video, Kohli looked visibly dejected as New Zealand players were celebrating his wicket.
Virat Kohli was heartbroken the way he got out yesterday at Pune. pic.twitter.com/HkoLeJa0zb
— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) October 27, 2024
Chasing 359, India started strongly with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who shared a 62-run partnership with Shubman Gill (23 off 31 balls, four boundaries). However, after Jaiswal’s dismissal for 77 off 65 balls (nine fours, three sixes), India couldn’t recover, succumbing to the Kiwi spinners and being bowled out for 245, resulting in a 113-run defeat. This series loss marks India’s first home series defeat in 12 years.
Santner, with a remarkable 13 wickets in the match (6/104 in the second innings), emerged as the star of the game, with Phillips and Ajaz Patel chipping in to wrap up the Test two days early.
Rohit and his men will aim to bounce back in the third and final Test, starting November 1, before the all-important tour of Australia next month.
India will play five Tests Down Under, with the series likely to decide their fate as far as the World Test Championship (WTC) final is concerned.
