Virat Kohli made his presence felt in the fourth Test against Australia in Ahmedabad which ended in a draw on Monday (March 12). Riding on Kohli and Shubman Gill's splendid centuries, India gave a strong retort to Australia's 480 with a dominating 571, however the match ended in a draw which opened the gate for Rohit Sharma's brigade to make it to the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023 final which will be held at the Ovals from June 7 to June 11. New Zealand's two-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in their first Test paved the way for India in the WTC final as the Men in Blue will meet Australia in the all-important clash.
After hogging limelight on Day 4 with a cracking 186, Kohli garnered eyeballs with a funny incident on the pitch with umpire Nitin Menon on Day 5 of the fourth Test. Kohli, who is known for keeping the mood light in the ground, was seen poking a fun at Menon when in Australia's second innings, Travis Head was at first given LBW off a Ravichandran Ashwin delivery. On the fourth ball of the 14th over, Head barely survived a close call, when Ashwin hit him on the pads, as he lunged forward in defense. Despite the loud appeal, Menon ruled him not out. Ashwin was sure about his appeal as Rohit said it hit the pads and they went up for a review. The ball landed on the middle and leg, Head tried to play forward and missed the line. The ‘Ultraedge’ confirmed that no bat was involved. The ball tracker showed the ball wouldn’t have turned much. And hence it was just clipping the sticks. Head survived a close call.
After the decision didn't come in India's favour, Kohli mocked Menon and joked that had he been in the umpire's place, he would have given the batter out straight away.
"Mai hota to out tha (Would have been out if I was the batter," Kohli told Menon after the incident. But Menon's reaction which came following Kohli's was pure gold as he was all smiles after former India skipper tried to engage in fun banter with the umpire. Menon responded to Kohli's remark by raising his finger. The hilarious exchange between Menon and Kohli soon became the talk of the town on social media.
Watch the video here…
However, Axar dismissed Head for 90 runs later with the Test meandering towards a draw. Scoring his first Test ton since November 2019, Kohli guided India to a massive 1st innings total against Steve Smith and Co. in the Ahmedabad Test match. Kohli and Shubman Gill's century (128) remained the highlights of the fourth Test riding on which India gave a perfect retort to Australia's 480 with a colossal 571. After Gill's cracking 128 off 235, Kohli belted a spectacular 186 off 364 to steady India's boat after early jitters and handed India a crucial 91-run lead. In the second innings, Australia posted 175/2 riding on 90 off 163 from Travis Head after 78.1 overs till third session which steered the match towards draw.
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