India vs Australia: Virat Kohli fails to score big, falls low to Todd Murphy in Nagpur test. Clock

Virat kohli failed to score big in the first Test match between India and Australia when he was sacked by Todd Murphy for cheap on friday. The former India captain fell victim to the newly-debuted Australian at the first ball after lunch when he was caught in the foot by the goalkeeper. Alex Carey for 12. It was an unfortunate disqualification for Kohli as he chased unruly serve and even though the ball bounced off Carey’s glove on the first try, he caught it. He ended up becoming the fourth racket for Murphy, who had a stellar start to his Test career on the rotation-friendly track.

Virat Kohli’s bad form continues in Cricket Test!! #INDvAUS #viratkholiOUT pic.twitter.com/we2RaCRYMJ

– BII2🇮🇳 (@realbii2) February 10, 2023

Rohit Sharma showed a lot of composure to inched towards its Ninth Test with India hitting 151 to 3 at lunch.

At halftime, Rohit hit 85 of 142 balls with 12 touchlines and two sixs to score. Virat Kohli (12 hits), his company, also looked ominous as the Australian bowler looked unthreatening despite a few hits — Ravichandran Ashwin (23) and Cheteshwar Pujara (7) — in session.

The idea would play out over the next two sessions and give a substantial lead to close the match within three days. However, the pitch showed no signs of deterioration compared to the first day.

Australia captain Pat Cummins (0/41 in 8 rounds) baited his opposite number with a deep foot and deep middle hitter but bowling more fully on his morning spell.

Rohit took his favorite pull out of the closet in the Australian captain’s second spell when a short serve was made.

In fact, the low bounce makes defending easier as both Rohit and Ashwin, during their 42 vertical runs, often hit hard with their front feet to frustrate pitchers.

However, the slowness of the track affected the Australian pitchers as both were non-spin runners, Nathan Lyon (0/66 in 20 rounds) and Todd Murphy (3/35 in 15 rounds), must hit faster to get some buys from the track.

The slowness can best be judged from the fact that it’s Australia’s second racer Scott Boland (0/7 in 9 rounds), who usually pitches the ball up to 135 clicks, asked catcher Alex Carey to follow him closely to prevent hitters from using their feet. However, Boland was bowling like a dark horse and silenced the batters at one end.

Against spinners, there is no problem in easily swaying with the back foot and playing on both sides of the racket.

Ashwin looked confident as he beat Lyon by six and finally Murphy, who circled the racket, threw a pitch at the midline and was straight enough to find the hitter’s pad ball.

Cheteshwar Pujara, would curse himself for causing his downfall on a Murphy serve, a serve that was nothing more than a hit.

It was a messy serve on the imaginary ‘fifth root’ and Pujara swept it for Boland, standing at ’45’, for an easy catch.

Kohli arrives and immediately makes his presence known with a four-man drive away from Murphy. He also played a pitcher’s back throw away from Lyon during the session.

(With PTI input)

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