Indian captain Virat Kohli’s poor run with the willow continued in the ongoing Boxing-Day Test against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion. On Day 4, Kohli was yet again dismissed while chasing a ball outside the off-stump during India’s second innings.
Kohli was dismissed on the first ball after lunch as he tried to play his trademark cover drive off debutant Marco Jansen. The left-armer bowled a full wide delivery, and Kohli had to reach out to play the drive. Since it was pitched wide of off-stump, the Delhi-lad had no control over the shot as he ended up giving a simple regulation catch to wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock.
Notably, Kohli had lost his prized wicket in a similar fashion during India’s first innings when he chased a wide delivery bowled by Lungi Ngidi only to get caught in the slip cordon by Wiaan Mulder.
After the dismissal, the Indian skipper looked really disappointed as he smashed his pad while walking down towards the pavilion. Further, Kohli looked distraught as he watched the replays of his wicket on Day 4 of the first Test between South Africa and India from the change room. From the pictures, it appeared as if Kohli was not able to believe that he played a poor shot for the second successive time in the match.
Here is the video:
Marco Jansen bringing the magic on debut🤩 #SAvIND #FreedomTestSeries #BetwayTestSeries #BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/7cYIorUwsY
— Proteas Men (@ProteasMenCSA) December 29, 2021
Notably, Kohli has failed to reach the three-figure mark since 2019, and his last half-century came against England in the Oval Test in September. Speaking about Kohli’s dismissal, veteran commentator Sunil Gavaskar said he was surprised that the Indian skipper chased a wide delivery without giving himself time to settle down after the lunch break.
“That was a loose shot after lunch. Every batsman gives himself some time after a break. You have got to reset your batting. Kohli is such an experienced batter, maybe at the back of the mind, he was looking for a declaration. How far away that ball was. He could have left it all alone; it was the first ball after lunch,” said Gavaskar.
