E-Paper
Sign in
‘The King has fumbled again’: Australian media takes Virat Kohli to the cleaners as ‘farewell tour turns into disaster’
Virat Kohli's dismissal sent a shockwave to the Australian commentators. It meant that he scored a second consecutive duck.
When we talk of Virat Kohli, the immediate adjective that comes to mind is consistency. However, his return to cricketing action has not been a trademark of what we relate Kohli to.
Notably, after the Champions Trophy Final against New Zealand, Virat Kohli was making a return to cricketing action in the ongoing Australia tour. The whole hype of the series was built around his comeback. But in the two matches so far, Kohli has played 12 deliveries without scoring a single run.
India were asked to bat first in Adelaide after Mitchell Marsh won the toss. After the departure of Shubman Gill on the first delivery of the seventh over, Kohli walked out with the fans hoping to see a masterclass from him at one of his favourite venues. However, four balls later, Kohli was trapped in front of the stumps by a delivery that was shaped into him by Xavier Bartlett. This was the first time ever in his international career that he had scored a duck in two consecutive innings.
Australian media shocked at Kohli’s twin duck
While the Indian supporters could not believe their eyes, the Australian media also received a shock. Aaron Bryans and Darren Lehmann, commentating on ABC Sports, added to the drama around Virat’s dismissal.
As Virat had a chat with Rohit Sharma after the umpire raised the finger and waited for the clock to run out, before walking away towards the dressing room, Bryans said, “And Virat is walking at a venue he has dominated almost for two decades. Virat Kohli’s grasp on his crown is starting to slip. The King has fumbled again. He is out for consecutive ducks in Australia.”
Immediately after the dismissal, Fox Cricket reacted with - “Kohli out for another duck, his horror show continues.” Cricket Australia released a video their X account stating - “Kohli records his second duck of the series.” A section of the commentary recorded - “His farewell tour is turning into a disaster.”
The commentator added that this farewell, Australia is unravelling, and things look gloomy for the star. The player himself added further fuel to his retirement discussions as he waved to the Adelaide crowd on his way back to the dressing room.
Kohli’s departure meant that India were stationed at 17/2 at that stage. It then took a partnership of 118 runs between Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer to bail the team out of trouble. Sharma scored 73 runs off 97 deliveries, propelling India towards a formidable total. However, after the departure of Sharma and Iyer, India kept losing wickets in regular intervals, and at the time of writing, it appears that they might fall short of a fighting total.
