Last Updated on 2 days by Charbel Coorey
Virat Kohli’s return to a happy hunting ground has had a sad ending, dismissed for a second consecutive duck in the ongoing ODI series against Australia. It is the first time that Kohli has ever been dismissed for conscutive ducks in his glittering ODI career, following his eight-ball nought at Perth.
Xavier Bartlett, typically an outswing bowler, trapped Kohli in front with a delivery that held its line. Virat, falling over, looked to compensate by playing around his front pad, but he was struck on the knee roll. He decided not to review; a wise call with ball tracker showing three reds.
Shubman Gill and Virat were dismissed in the same over in a very testing opening period for India on an Adelaide pitch offering plenty of assistance for the fast bowlers. The surface had spent quite a bit of time under covers with rain in the leadup to the game, and Australia were happy to make first use of the conditions after winning the toss.
India fans heartbroken after Virat Kohli makes consecutive ducks in ODI series
Virat acknowledged applause from the crowd as he walked off one of his favourite grounds, possibly for the final time.
Speculation will only grow as to whether Virat will make it to the 2027 World Cup. One of the greatest ODI batsman is only playing the single format after retiring from Tests and T20Is, and the lack of game time seems to be catching up.
Many India fans are disappointed with how things have transpired so far in this series for Virat. “Sad way to end his last innings at Adelaide. A ground where he has dominated everytime,” wrote one fan on X (formerly Twitter).
“Our misery is turning funny because who the hell thought that there will be a possibility that Kohli can go through this series scoring 0 runs,” wrote another.
At the time of writing, India are 46/2 after 14 overs on a tricky surface. While Bartlett took two wickets, Josh Hazlewood looked the most threatening, going past both edges with incredible regularity in a seven-over spell that read 7-2-22-0.
