3 times Virat Kohli was run-out in Tests
Virat Kohli is playing his 500th international match in the ongoing second Test between India and West Indies in Trinidad, a milestone that the batting maestro celebrated by notching up his 29th ton in the longest format. It was his first overseas Test ton since his sensational 123 in the 2018 Perth Test against Australia and that added to the joy of the occasion.
The Delhi-born batsman went on to score 121, which helped India post a total of 438 in the first innings. His knock put India in a good position to win the game on what is an extremely slow wicket.
Virat Kohli now has 25,582 runs in international cricket and he sits right up there with the legends of the game. A feature of his batting that has helped him tremedously over the years is his running between the wickets, which is just exceptional. His fitness has helped him convert ones into twos, which always puts the opposition under pressure, not only in the shorter formats, but in Tests as well.
Still, much to the surprise of fans and pundits, he has been run-out on three occasions in Test cricket. Here, we look at those three instances:
#1. Trinidad, 2023
A wicket out of nowhere for WI and a bizarre run-out of Virat Kohli.
Still, a brilliant121-run knock for him. ❤️
#WIvsIND #ViratKohli𓃵 pic.twitter.com/TDpB5QOZX4
The latest instance came in the ongoing Test between India and West Indies at the Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago, in which Kohli smashed his 29th ton in the longest format. His innings included 11 boundaries and he looked well-set for a big hundred. However, his stay at the crease was cut short owing to a direct-hit run-out, courtesy of Alzarri Joseph.
Kohli attempted a quick single off the bowling of Jomel Warrican but paused for a second, which proved to be costly. Kohli's reaction was one of disappointment as he knew that he had gifted his wicket to the opposition.
#2. Adelaide, 2020
This instance is one that fans of Virat Kohli and Indian Cricket will never be able to forget. This happened in the first Test of the 2020-21 Border Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia. Batting first, India were in a good position at 188-3 when skipper Kohli was run-out.
Ajinkya Rahane pushed a delivery to the left of mid-on and called for a single. Kohli responded immediately but Rahane changed his mind and went back. Kohli was already halfway down the pitch, which meant that he was gone. Kohli was fuming as he left the ground and rightly so, as he was well-set on 74. India then collapsed to a score of 244, following which the Aussies made 191, handing India a lead of 53 runs.
However, calamity struck in the second innings as India were bundled out for 36, with the Aussies winning the game emphatically. Indian fans still wonder if things would have been different if Virat Kohli wouldn't have been run-out and India would have bagged a huge lead.
#3 Adelaide, 2012
Virat Kohli's first run-out in the longest format also happened at the Adelaide Oval. In the 2012 Test between India and Australia, Kohli was batting on 22 in the second innings, fresh off the back of his maiden Test century in the first innings. He had Ishant Sharma as his partner at the other end, which probably contributed to Kohli being run-out.
Off the last delivery of a Ben Hilfenhaus over, Kohli tapped the ball to mid-wicket and attempted a single to keep the strike. Hilfenhaus ran, got hold of the ball and took a shot at the stumps, which turned out to be a fruitful one as Kohli was well short of his crease. India lost that game by a huge margin of 298 runs.