India’s current leading run-scorer in red-ball cricket, Virat Kohli returned to the format after eight months and was dismissed cheaply by young Bangladesh pacer Hasan Mahmud. While Mahmud was spot-on with his line and lengths with the new ball, exploiting the pace-friendly conditions in Chennai, former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal praised the team analyst for the prized wicket.
Walking in to bat after Shubman Gill’s wicket, Kohli fell for a delivery way outside the off stump. Mahmud sprayed one away from Kohli’s bat and he went for a booming drive. He could not connect properly but managed an outside edge which carried to Litton Das’s gloves.
"Virat's coming back to Test cricket after a while, so he wants to build back by feeling the ball. It happens to everyone. We have all played the game. We understand that, at times, you want to feel the ball. And I think that particular area where he got out, he has been dismissed a lot of times," Iqbal pointed out while speaking on Sports18 after the first session.
"This was a dismissal that makes the analyst look like a magician. It was definitely a very well-planned delivery, and Virat fell for it."
Parthiv echoes Iqbal’s sentiments
Kohli’s former teammate Parthiv Patel too agreed with Iqbal’s assessment. He said when a batter returns after a long break to a particular format, it does lead to dismissals like these.
“Tamim mentioned Virat Kohli coming back after a long time, to be precise, 556 days since his last Test innings in India. Sometimes, after a long break, you want to feel the ball on your bat, and that can lead to these kinds of dismissals," Patel said.
However, the former wicketkeeper-batter feels Kohli will come back stronger in the second innings.
"Maybe in the second innings, you'll see him leaving that ball outside off-stump. When you're out of practice for a while, this happens. But if the ball had hit the middle of the bat, we might have seen a completely different Kohli in this innings itself. It can happen to the greatest. Everyone's been there."
Kohli departed after scoring six runs from as many deliveries. India lost three wickets for 34 runs within 10 overs.
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