Virat Kohli again fails to get going in Tests, becomes easy prey for debutant Todd Murphy

Former Indian captain Virat Kohli became a major talking point for the cricketing world on Friday, after his dismissal in the second innings of India vs Australia, first Test match in Nagpur. Kohli came out to bat at no. 5 for India on Day 2, following the dismissal of Cheteshwar Pujara, but couldn’t last in the crease for long. He became easy prey for Australian debutant Todd Murphy, who dismissed the former India skipper to register his fourth wicket of the innings.

While India’s score stood at 151/3 at lunch on Day 2 with Rohit Sharma and Kohli on the crease, Murphy dismissed Kohli in the very first ball of the post-lunch session. In the 53rd over, the 22-year-old started the proceedings with a ball delivered outside the leg stump. Looking for a flick shot, Kohli ended up getting a thick nick and was caught behind by wicketkeeper Alex Carey.

Watch: Virat Kohli's dismissal by Todd Murphy and the reactions that followed

Kohli’s dismissal became the talk of the town for Indian cricket fans, as they felt that the 34-year-old’s wicket was a bit too easy. It is pertinent to mention that Kohli was the fourth Indian batter to be dismissed by the Aussie off-spinner in his debut match. here to take a look at the former captain's wicket and the reactions it received.

Rohit Sharma registers maiden century against Australia in Test cricket

While the 34-year-old has found his form in the limited overs format in the last year, he is yet to make an impact for the Test team. Having scored 27 Test centuries so far, Kohli hit his last Test hundred back in November 2019 against Bangladesh. He has scored only 917 runs out of his total tally of 8119 runs for India since 2020 in 20 games.

Coming back to the match, debutant Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed on the individual score of eight runs off 20 balls in the 60th over. However, captain Rohit went on to complete his hundred, his first against Australia in Test cricket and 9th overall. Rohit became the first-ever Indian captain to score centuries for India in all formats of the game.

Rohit opened the innings with vice-captain KL Rahul, as the openers hit a half-century stand of 76 runs in 138 balls. He then partnered night watchman R Ashwin to add 42 runs in 104 balls for the second wicket. He then hit a 50 + runs stand with Ravindra Jadeja for the sixth wicket.

While the skipper ended up reaching his century on Day 2 of the match, Rahul was dismissed on 20 runs off 71 balls, while Ashwin was out for 23 runs in 62 balls. Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli had relatively shorter stays at the crease with knocks of seven and 12 runs respectively. In the meantime, Suryakumar hit eight runs in 20 balls, before Jadeja walked out to partner the skipper in the middle on Day 2.

Earlier in Day 1 of the match, Australia was bowled out on 177 runs in the first innings, before India found themselves at 77/1 at stumps. Interestongly, Jadeja grabbed a five-wicket haul in the first innings of the match, making his India return. On lunch on Day 2, India’s score stood at 151/3 in 52 overs.