Indian cricket star Virat Kohli had a terrible performance in the first Test match against Bangladesh in Chennai. Virat scored 6 and 17 when Hasan Mahmud dismissed him in the first innings and Bangladesh spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz took his wicket in the second innings. All eyes were on the batter to bounce back in the second Test match in Kanpur but he suffered a major setback in the nets before the match. According to the Indian Express, he faced 15 deliveries against fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah in the nets and was out four times. Bumrah’s fourth ball landed in his pads and Bumrah shouted “saamne laga hai (You are heavy as lead)” – a statement that Kohli acknowledged.
Two balls later, Kohli got an outside edge when he chased a ball outside his off-stump and was tricked twice in succession when the fast bowler shifted his line towards the middle and leg stumps.
“Aakhiri wala toh short leg ka catch tha (The short leg could have caught the last one),” Bumrah said.
Kohli moved to the other net where the spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel were bowling, but his troubles were not over yet.
Kohli tried to tackle Jadeja but when he tried to play an inside-out shot, the star player completely missed the ball three times. The report further claimed that this made Kohli 'agitated'.
However, things got worse when he was clean bowled by Axar whose delivery completely breached his defence. That was the last ball Kohli saw in the nets as he made way for Shubman Gill.
Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said it was not good for Indian cricket and for themselves that star players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli did not participate in the recently held Duleep Trophy.
The Duleep Trophy concluded with India A lifting the title. Several Indian international stars like Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav etc. played in the tournament. However, Rohit and Virat did not participate in the tournament.
When India played Bangladesh in the first Test in Chennai, which was Rohit's first Test in five months and Virat's first in eight months, the ring rust was clearly visible in both the players as they failed to make big scores in the match. The Hitman scored five and six in both his innings and Virat made poor scores of six and 17 in both his innings.
(With ANI inputs)
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