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After India lost the first Test by eight wickets, star batsman Virat Kohli was spotted flying from Bengaluru to Pune ahead of the second Test against New Zealand. The Kiwis were given a meager 107 as a goal, which they chased in 28 overs. They were dealt a blow early on when captain Tom Latham was removed in the opening over, but things were easy from then on. A video of Kohli at the airport in Bengaluru went viral on social media hours after the team's loss to New Zealand.
Virat spotted at airport
Kohli was seen wearing a mask in the video, probably to prevent him from being recognized in a public setting. The renowned batter, who spent the last 16 years playing for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, has a special bond with Bengaluru.
When Kohli walked out to bat at No. 3 in the Bengaluru Test, William O'Rourke removed him for a nine-ball duck. Shubman Gill was absent due to a stiff neck, hence Kohli did not play on his usual spot in the first Test. India was reduced to 9/2 in the ninth over following Kohli's removal in the first innings. Later being bowled out for just 46 runs with Matt Henry claiming five wickets.
In the second innings, Kohli was at his best, scoring 70 runs off 102 balls and linking up with Sarfaraz Khan for 136 runs stand for the third wicket to help India move from 95/2 to 231/3. The whole Chinnaswamy audience, mesmerized by Kohli's strokeplay up to that point, was silenced when he was eventually removed by Glenn Phillips on the final ball of Day 3.
Of his 53 home Test matches, Kohli has only played two in Pune. In the first, he scored a duck and 13 runs in two innings against Australia in 2017. The second came in 2019 against South Africa, where he played an unbeaten knock of 254 runs.
