ICC World Test Championship Finals have been disappointing for India, as they struggled on both day one and day two. At the beginning of the WTC Finals, the bowlers were truncated, while the second day proved to be a nightmare for the batsmen. Sunil Gavaskar showed his faith in Virat Kohli , that he might be impactful against Australia. Virat Kohli was dismissed cheaply in the 1st innings and scored 14 runs in 31 balls and was undone by the sheer brilliance of the left-arm speedster Mitchell Starc.
Kohli played remarkably well in BGT by smashing 186 at Ahmedabad, and his total-run score was 297 runs in 4 test matches. His performance has always been exceptional against Australia. He mentioned in one of his interviews that Australia facilitates and motivates him to do better. Australia’s unwavering resilience and competitiveness provide him with the opportunity to excel.
“Virat Kohli Has Got A Terrific Record Against The Australians..” – Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar opined that Kohli’s resilience to do better than others is remarkable, and he will look forward to replicating Steven Smith’s century, said Sunil Gavaskar to Star Sports:
“Well, First and Foremost, he loves playing against the Australians. He has got a terrific record against the Australians. Now, he has also seen somebody he has always been compared with Steven Smith, Joe Root, and Kane Williamson, these are top batters in the world. Gavaskar told Star Sports.
“Everybody talks about it. He has not seen Steven Smith get a hundred. He would definitely want to get a hundred to show ‘look he has got it, even I can get it’.” he added.
Virat Kohli’s Deflating Performance On Day 2:
Like Sunil Gavaskar, many had high hopes for Virat Kohli, but he fell short of meeting those expectations. As Kohli smacked only 14 runs in 31 balls, he played some great shots in between but fell short, and got tormented by Starc’s bouncer he was surprised to see an extra bounce and wanted to fend the ball away. The ball hits the top of the blade near the handle and flies towards the slip cordon. Steven Smith times his jump perfectly at second slip and grabs the ball over his head, sending Kohli back to the dugouts.
However Kohli wasn’t the only one who failed to perform in this critical match, the openers were also quickly extinguished by the Australian bowlers before tea time. Pujara too lost his wicket due to an unfortunate leave. Barring Rahane and Jadeja none of the other batters were able to pull the score of 20 or more.
Although, it was an unsatisfactory performance by India, the hopes for Asian-Giants to stage a comeback hasn’t crushed yet, as there are still chances for India to avoid dreadful follow-on if they score and surpass 269 runs. All eyes will be now set on the remaining batters as they will try to put up a struggle and fight against Mighty Aussies on the third day.