Virat Kohli's move of opening the batting against Hyderabad in the Eliminator backfires

Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli surprised one and all when he decided to open the innings along with youngster Devdutt Padikkal during the Eliminator against southern rivals at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi on Friday. Nonetheless, his stay in the middle did not last for too long as he was sent back to the pavilion even before the second over was completed. 

'Skipper departs'

This happened in the second over of the first innings that was bowled by pacer Jason Holder. On the second delivery, Holder bowled one right on the off and middle stump line as Kohli either looked to flick it to the leg-side that is between square-leg/ fine-leg or towards the third man area. Unfortunately, it was somewhat a lazy shot as he did not time the ball at all and Shreevats Goswami made absolutely no mistake behind the stumps as he took a well-judged catch to his left by collecting the ball cleanly.

The tall Windies pacer celebrated while a stunned Virat could not realise what had just happened and had to take a long walk back to the pavilion for just six runs to his name.

Here's how Kohli's stay in the middle came to an abrupt end:

Bangalore face Hyderabad in a 'Do or Die' encounter

Coming back to the on-field action, Bangalore finished fourth in the league stages with 14 points in the same number of matches. This is also the first time since the 2016 edition that the three-time finalists have succeeded in making the playoffs.

 However, unlike Qualifier 1, the losing team will not get a second chance to make amends as this is a 'Do or Die' encounter which means that the winner of this contest will face Delhi in the second Qualifier on Sunday for a place in the final while the loser will be knocked out from this year's competition. 

The Orange Army had defeated Bangalore in the tournament decider of the 2016 edition. Therefore, the Virat Kohli-led side will be hoping to knock David Warner & Co. out for depriving them of their maiden title four years ago. 

The coin landed in Hyderabad skipper David Warner's favor and he immediately decided to chase. Kohli & Co. have already lost a couple of key wickets before the Powerplay. After the batting megastar departed, his opening partner Devdutt Padikkal followed him with just a solitary run to his name.

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