Virat Kohli’s dream run, in which he scored three centuries in his last four matches, came to an end in the first ODI vs New Zealand in Hyderabad. It was once again a left-arm spinner that brought about his downfall. It took Mitchell Santner only three deliveries at Kohli to send the great man packing, silencing the huge home crowd. Santner was introduced early into the attack by Tom Latham to put the brakes on India openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. He did exactly that by conceding only two runs in his first two overs. Rohit was dismissed by Blair Tickner in the the13th over when he mistimed a pull shot and in walked Virat Kohli.
Kohli’s duel against Santner was delayed slightly as Gill got stuck into the New Zealand all-rounder, hitting him for a couple of boundaries in his third over. Kohli got to face only one delivery in that 14th over in which he took a single. In the 15th over, Santner had the former India captain in front of him from the beginning and he made full use of it.
INDIA VS NEW ZEALAND HIGHLIGHTS 1st ODI
The first one was a slider down the leg side, which Kohli failed to guide past the short fine-leg fielder. In the next delivery, Santner got his line perfect, it dipped on Kohli a bit and straightened just a wee bit. Kohli, in two minds, decided to go back and play inside the line of the ball. It beat his outside edge and cannoned into his stumps. Kohli, as he so often is when being outdone by a spinner, was left shell-shocked. He was dismissed for 8.
Watch: Virat Kohli clean bowled by Mitchell Santner’s beauty in India vs New Zealand 1st ODI
For all his greatness, Kohli has shown glaring signs of weakness against left-arm spin of late. This was the fifth time he was dismissed to a left-arm spinner since 2021. Before the start of this match, his numbers against left-arm spin were the worst. He averaged only 18 and had a strike rate of 71, which is considerably lower than his average and strike rate in the same time frame against other spinners.
This was the second time he was dismissed by Santner in ODIs. Kohli has the worst strike rate (71 in 11 matches) against Santner among all spinners in the world.
Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was not happy with the way Kohli handled the delivery. Gavaskar said Kohli should have gone forward instead of going back.
“He’s played inside the line, therefore allowing the ball to turn just that little bit to go past the outside edge. He has played back to a ball that he should have played forward to. It wasn’t a short ball. It just turned a little bit and it went past his outside edge of a batter who is in tremendous form,” he said during commentary.
