KOHLI CAUGHT OUT
Australia get on top of skipper
CRICKET: It’s the sneaky statistic Australian fans are only prepared to whisper behind cupped hands.
In Virat Kohli’s last six Test innings against Australia, featuring a series in India last year, he has managed just 49 runs at just over eight per innings.
No, it does not mean Australia has the wood on him because he has six centuries in 16 Tests against them and an average against them which floats around 50.
In fact if you were one of those punters who backs on the laws of probability that things will even out we suggest you unload on Kohli going big in the second innings in Adelaide.
But still, Australia has somehow landed a cheeky little run of left jabs against the world’s best player.
As great as Kolhi is, he, like his less talented top-order teammates, are prisoners of sorts to the sort of cricket they have been playing and the mindset they are trying to play with.
Kolhi likes to play gung ho cricket and Australia knows that. And he wants the team to play that way as well which is dangerous when his teammates are not as talented as he is. Generally it works for him but it can make him occasionally vulnerable to dismissals like yesterday’s when Australia bowled straight and true for almost every ball of his short innings before baiting the hook just wide of off stump.
His flashing blade edged to Usman Khawaja in the gully whose one-handed snare may yet be remembered as the most significant moment of the series. You sense that this will be the blueprint for Australia against Kohli for the series.
Challenge his ego. Make him want to dominate you. He is so good that he can overcome any game plan and normally does. But it should make for an engaging contest.
Kohli was averaging 70 as skipper in the first Test of a series with nine tons in 14 Tests. It’s a stellar record.
It was significant that amid the men who could not resist temptation the lone warrior to stand out was Cheteshwah Pujura, the only member of the squad who does not have an Indian Premier League contract, an old-fashioned Test match warrior who shed the limelight and will never be seen on advertising billboards around India.
Australia can be proud of their performance in the field.
The opening spells of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc were collectively the quickest recorded by Cricviz in Test cricket this year.
The bowlers bowled full yet not too full. The field placements were excellent and the catching was generally on song when it mattered most.
Losing the toss may be a bonus for Australia. There was just enough devil in this high-class pitch to tilt the match in Australia’s favour. Australia needed a solid start in this series and got one. There is still much hard work ahead.