"He walked away dejected, wanting to keep the 3 reviews for his team" - Sanjay Manjrekar on Virat Kohli's LBW dismissal in IND vs BAN 1st Test 2024
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar hailed Virat Kohli's 'team-first' mentality after his dismissal in the second innings of the first Test against Bangladesh at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The ace batter was trapped LBW by Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 17 runs during the closing stages of Day 2 (September 20).
Kohli was struck on the pads while trying to nudge the ball through the off-side. The on-field umpire gave in to Bangladesh's appeal prompting, Kohli to engage in a discussion with Shubman Gill regarding a review. Despite being encouraged by the youngster to challenge the decision, the ace batter opted against it and walked back to the pavilion.
Later, the replay showed a spike on the ultra edge, meaning an inside edge that Kohli himself was unaware of. Skipper Rohit Sharma expressed his frustration from the dressing room after witnessing the inside edge spike.
Manjrekar lauded Virat Kohli's priority to keep the reviews safe with a post on X/Twitter at the end of the day's play.
"Felt bad for Virat today. He obviously didn’t think he had hit it. Just wanted to know from Gill if ball was hitting stumps. Despite Gill encouraging him to go for the review anyway he walked away dejected wanting to keep the 3 reviews for his team," Manjrekar wrote.
India closed out Day 2 with a score of 81-3 after bundling out Bangladesh for just 149 in the first innings earlier. The Men in Blue have a commanding lead of 308 runs, with three days in the Test match still remaining.
Virat Kohli's average drops to 48.74; his lowest since 2016
The former skipper was unable to make an impression in the first innings as well, departing for only six runs. On that occasion, he had perished to the infamous delivery outside the off-sump, leading to a simple catch in the slip cordon off Hasan Mahmud's bowling.
With 23 runs in the contest, Virat Kohli's average has taken another hit, dropping down to 48.74. He last had a similar average during the home tour against England in 2016, when the figure read 48.28.