The firsts of Virat Kohli’s dismissals in Tests
The second Test of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 between India and Australia was played at ace batter Virat Kohli’s home ground - the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
The former India captain would have been keen to impress on his home turf. He looked during his 44 off 84 balls. However, he was adjudged lbw to debutant spinner Matthew Kuhnemann in a somewhat contentious fashion.
The 34-year-old had a great chance to guide Team India to victory in the second innings. They were only set to chase 115 after Australia were bundled out for 113 in their second essay.
Again, Kohli looked fluent as he eased to 20, hitting three fours. Over the course of his innings, he even became the fastest batter to reach 25000 international runs. Kohli reached the landmark in 549 innings, going past Sachin Tendulkar’s record - 577 innings.
Kohli’s innings, however, ended when he was stumped off Todd Murphy’s bowling - the first instance of him being dismissed in that fashion in Test cricket.
In the wake of him being stumped in Delhi, we revisited his first dismissal in various modes in red-ball cricket for India.
Caught - vs West Indies in Kingston (2011)
Kohli was dismissed caught for the first time in Test cricket in his debut match against West Indies. India won the toss and decided to bat first in Kingston, Jamaica, in June 2011.
The right-handed batter came in to bat at No. 5 in his debut match but was dismissed for just four. He poked one outside off-stump from Fidel Edwards and gave keeper Carlton Baugh a catch.
Incidentally, Kohli was caught behind in the second innings as well for 15 off the same bowler. This time, Edwards bowled a short one down the leg and the debutant was adjudged caught once again.
While Kohli did not have a great match on a personal note, India went on to win the Test by 63 runs.
LBW - vs Australia in Melbourne (2011)
Kohli was dismissed lbw for the first time in Test cricket in the Boxing Day encounter against Australia in 2011. The visitors were chasing 292 to win the match but were bowled out for a disappointing 169.
Kohli was dismissed for a golden duck, trapped lbw by Ben Hilfenhaus. The batter’s front foot moved across a long way and he was caught in front of the stumps by a length delivery that nipped in.
Australia batted first in the Test and posted 333 on the board. India responded with 282 as Kohli was caught behind off Hilfenhaus for 11. India ended up losing the Test by 122 runs.
Run-out - vs Australia in Adelaide (2012)
Kohli’s first run-out dismissal in Test cricket came in Adelaide during India’s tour of Australia in 2011-12. He was run out for 22 in India’s second innings after India were set to chase an improbable target of 500.
Kohli was run-out in disastrous fashion just before the close of play on Day 4. He worked a length ball from Hilfenhaus towards midwicket and took off for a run. The fast bowler chased the ball and threw it off balance, but hit the bullseye. The Indian batter put in a desperate dive but was caught short of his crease quite comfortably.
India ended up being bowled out for 201, losing the Adelaide Test by 298 runs.
Bowled - vs England in Ahmedabad (2012)
Kohli was bowled for the first time in Test cricket during the Ahmedabad Test against England in November 2012. The right-handed batter was cleaned up by England off-spinner Graeme Swann in the first innings after India won the toss and batted first.
Swann got one to rip back in from outside off stump and found the gap between the bat and the pad. Kohli’s defense was breached as he was bowled for 19.
Thanks to Cheteshwar Pujara’s 206 and Virender Sehwag’s 117, though, India posted 521/8d and went on to clinch the Test match by nine wickets.
Hit-wicket - vs England in Rajkot (2016)
Kohli has also been dismissed hit-wicket once in his Test career. The rare mode of dismissal came against England in Rajkot in November 2016. The hosts were responding to England’s first-innings total of 537 and captain Kohli was hit-wicket to Adil Rashid for 40.
The batter attempted to pull a short delivery and went deep into the crease in his endeavor. However, as he completed his swivel, his left leg hit the stumps and Kohli had to walk back dejected.
The bizarre dismissal did not hurt India as hundreds from Pujara and Murali Vijay lifted the hosts to 488. The high-scoring Test ended in a draw.
Also Read: 3 reasons why Renuka Singh Thakur could be the ideal successor to Jhulan Goswami