Indian cricket team star batter Virat Kohli was back in practice right after his side’s humiliating loss against Australia in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide. Just after the end of the match, Kohli was back in the nets as he faced deliveries from fast bowlers. Kohli slammed a brilliant century in the first Test but in Adelaide, the star batter struggled to score runs. Kohli scored just 7 and 11 in the two innings as Australia registered a huge 10-wicket victory. Legendary India skipper Sunil Gavaskar was impressed by Virat’s dedication and he said that the rest of the players also need to learn from Virat.
“By going out in the nets today, he shows his dedication. But that is what I would like to see from everybody else. He’s not scored runs. He is very proud of what he achieves and does for India, and because he’s not scored runs in this game, he’s out in the nets.”
“He’s working hard, he’s sweating, and that is what you want to see. After that if you get out, no problem, because that’s what sport is all about. You will get runs one day, will get wickets one day, next day you will not. But you’ve got to put in the effort. He is putting in the hard yards, he is putting in the effort, and that’s why I won’t be surprised if he’s back amongst the runs in the next game,” Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
Australia maintained their unblemished record in Pink-ball Tests with an emphatic 10-wicket victory over a completely out-of-sorts India, leveling the five-Test series 1-1 within just two-and-a-half days.
This was the shortest-ever Test between India and Australia in terms of balls bowled.
Starting the day at 128 for 5, Nitish Kumar Reddy’s (42) cavalier approach prevented a second successive innings defeat under lights at Adelaide as India were bowled out for 175.
The required 19 runs were a formality which was achieved in just 3.2 overs.
India’s second innings lasted only 36.5 overs, with skipper Pat Cummins using the short ball effectively to claim 5 for 57. Scott Boland (3/51) inflicted early damage, while Mitchell Starc (2/60) chipped in with crucial wickets.
Such was the dominance of the three premier quicks that Cummins didn’t even need Mitchell Marsh and Nathan Lyon in the second innings. In fact, the specialist spinner and all-rounder bowled just five overs between them in the entire game.
After a facile 295-run win in Perth, Indian batting unit won’t be too amused to learn that they survived a total of 81 overs across both innings, which isn’t even a whole day of Test match batting.
(With PTI inputs)
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