When the wickets are not coming, players attempt a few tricks not just with the ball or while fielding but others as well. On Day 2 of the Centurion Test, Virat Kohli attempted one such trick. Former England speedster Stuart Broad’s ‘magic bail swap’ came to India’s aide as they were looking to break the second-wicket partnership between Dean Elgar and Tony de Zorzi. The trick worked as Jasprit Bumrah provided the breakthrough India desperately needed three balls later.
The incident took place in the 29th over of the innings. Kohli swapped the bails which was followed by a boundary past the gully fielder. After two dot balls, Bumrah bowled a short-of-the-length delivery which cramped De Zorzi for room. He tried to defend it on the back foot but the outside edge went straight to third slip fielder Yashasvi Jaiswal. He was dismissed for 28 off 62 deliveries. De Zorzi and Elgar shared a 93-run partnership after Aiden Markram was dismissed cheaply by Mohammed Siraj.
“The wicket of Tony de Zorzi, Jaiswal was involved, Bumrah was of course involved and Virat Kohli also had a role to play in that as well, you’d think,” said Sanjay Manjrekar in the commentary box. “Of course, I say that tongue in cheek.”
Broad had adopted the tactic in the Ashes 2023. In the final Test of his career, he switched the bail twice to get breakthroughs for his side. He did it in Mark Wood's over which led to Marnus Labuschagne's wicket. In the last innings, he got the wicket of tailender Todd Murphy by doing that.
The 37-year-old reacted to Kohli’s tactics on Instagram asking “Did it really?”
In his next over, Bumrah got the wicket of Keegan Petersen. He dragged the ball onto his stumps and departed for a single-digit score.
However, Dean Elgar ensured that South Africa dominated the proceedings. Elgar scored his first Test century against India at home. After two quick wickets, Elgar and David Bedingham scored quickly towards the end of the second session and took the momentum in the final session of Day 2.
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