India vs Australia: Virat Kohli elated with India’s strong performance on Day 1
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India’s regular Test captain, Virat Kohli has lauded the team for dominating Day 1 of the Boxing Day Test match between India and Australia in Melbourne. Kohli had returned home after the Adelaide Test for his paternity leave. He and his wife Anushka Sharma are expecting the birth of their first child in January 2021.
Kohli left for home on December 22 after giving a pep talk to the team. India suffered a humiliating loss in the Adelaide Test by scoring 36/9 in the second innings, their lowest score in history. Kohli took to Twitter to appreciate the team and praise the terrific performance of the bowlers during the second Test. “Top day 1 for us. Great display from the bowlers and a solid finish too,” he wrote.
India regular Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane has taken over captaincy for the final three Tests in Kohli’s absence.
India proves the ship can sail without Kohli
Several doubts were raised over India’s performance without skipper and fiery batsman Virat Kohli. However, the team has proved that the ship can sail without Kohli as India dominated the opening day of the Boxing Day Test.
India bowled out Australia for 195 then weathered a fierce pace assault late afternoon. Ace bowlers Ravichandran Ashwin and Jasprit Bumrah stepped up their game from the Adelaide horror show to bowl out the Aussies. Debutant Mohammed Siraj made an excellent first impression by picking the wickets of Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green with the old ball.
Although the bowlers shone on the Indian side, equally remarkable was Ajinkya Rahane‘s captaincy. He put to use his resources perfectly during the 72.3 overs that Australia batted. India was 36/1 at the stumps with debutant Shubman Gill (28) and Cheteshwar Pujara (7). Opener Mayank Agarwal was dismissed for a duck.
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