[Watch] Bengaluru crowd distraught as Virat Kohli departs for golden duck during India vs Afghanistan 3rd T20I
Star Indian batter Virat Kohli departed for a golden duck in the third T20I against Afghanistan in Bengaluru on Wednesday, January 17.
The Chinnaswamy Stadium is Kohli's home ground in the IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore. There was a sense of anticipation among the crowd that he would produce a sensational knock. However, they were all shell-shocked when the great man had to walk back without opening his account.
Fareed Ahmad was causing huge problems for the Indian batters by getting some movement off the seam and also a bit of extra bounce. It was the extra bounce that did the trick for the pacer against Virat Kohli. The batter went for the pull shot but got it high on his bat, lobbing the ball straight into the hands of mid-off.
The Afghanistan fielders were ecstatic and understandably so, while a dejected Kohli had no option but to trudge back to the pavilion. Here's a video of the dismissal:
Virat Kohli's dismissal sums up India's struggle with the Chinnaswamy bounce
Rohit Sharma had no hesitation in opting to bat first after winning the toss as he looked keen to challenge the batting line-up to put runs on the board. While the Indian captain finally got off the mark in the series, the two-paced nature of the Chinnaswamy pitch has had India in deep trouble in the powerplay.
The likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, and Sanju Samson all went for the big shot. But the two-paced nature of the track coupled with the variable bounce saw them all head back to the pavilion without breaking a sweat.
Azmatullah Omarzai got the ball to nip away beautifully to induce the edge of Shivam Dube to dismiss the in-form southpaw. Rinku Singh has now walked out to bat with Rohit at the other end and India will need the duo to build a strong partnership.
The Men in Blue lead the three-match series 2-0 and are 52/4 after the end of nine overs.