Unplayable? Unlucky? Snorter? Call it whatever you want to but the scorecard won’t change. It read Virat Kohli, caught Usman Khawaja, bowled Josh Hazlewood for 5 in the first India vs Australia Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Australia had sent back Yashasvi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal for ducks after India opted to bat first in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy opener but the collective hush around the stadium, the excitement in the commentary box and, dare we say, the silence among millions of Indian fans watching the broadcast, was enough proof to suggest Kohli’s was the biggest event of the day. Why shouldn’t it be? The Test series was, after all, was built as a Kohli vs Australia battle. And it is safe to say that Australia won the first round, thanks to Josh Hazlewood.
With India’s innings going nowhere at 14/2 in 11 overs on a spicy pitch, Virat Kohli walked out with his customary positive energy and to-do body language. He was up for it. Australia were up for it. Perth was up for it, and so was Hazlewood, Australia’s best bowler on Friday morning.
The first five balls were eventless, but one could sense Kohli itching to get on the front foot to dominate Hazlewood. That has been his modus operandi against fast bowlers for years now. He likes to be on the front foot irrespective of the match situation and conditions. Hazlewood knew it. He bowled the last ball of the over full but not full enough for Kohli to drive it off the front foot. It moved away slightly and beat the former India captain all ends up.
In his eighth ball against Hazlewood, Kohli got an inside edge to get off the mark. “Big load off his back,” said former England captain Michale Vaughan on commentary. It did seem like it for a brief period as Kohli got another single off Australia captain Pat Cummins and followed that one with a beautiful straight drive after getting the strike back in the same over. It was not a booming Kohli drive that raced away to the fence but it was a confident push, timed to perfection, that sent out a message of assertiveness.
So far, so good. But Kohli had Hazlewood in front of him again. The right-arm pacer had given nothing away till then. Nagging lengths, great lines and slight inward and outward movement to keep the batter honest; Hazlewood was simply brilliant since morning.
Josh Hazlewood gets rid off Kohli with a snorter
At the start of the 17th over, Hazlewood decided to bring his length back. The first one was dealt by Kohli quite comfortably, but the second one wasn’t. To be fair to the modern-day great, there was not much that he or any other batter could have done about that. It was pitched just outside off and around the same length as the previous one but this time, it took off. It climbed onto Kohli at a rapid pace – twice as more as the previous delivery – even before he could get his hands away. It touched his gloves and went straight to Khawaja at first slip, who took a simple catch.
It was the fourth time Hazlewood dismissed Kohli in red-ball cricket.
“Virat is done,” said Mark Howard on commentary. What Howie perhaps meant was that Kohli was done for the first innings in Perth, but it sounded rather ironic and dreadful to the Indian cricket fans who have been waiting for Kohli’s runs for years now. The Australian summer did not begin well but this is a journey of five Tests and rest assured, all eyes will remain firmly on Kohli.
