Bumrah scripts rare World Cup history with opening wicket vs Australia; Kohli pips legendary Kumble with sharp catch

Jasprit Bumrah created history in India's World Cup opener against Australia. Meanwhile, Virat Kohli overtook Anil Kumble in a legendary list.

India got off to a bright start in their World Cup 2023 opener, as Jasprit Bumrah dismissed opener Mitchell Marsh for a six-ball duck with Australia reeling at 5/1 in 2.2 overs. It is a special wicket as this mark the first instance of India sending back an Australian opener for a duck in ODI World Cup history.

India's Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the wicket of Australia's batter Mitchell Marsh. (PTI)

Opening the bowling, Bumrah struck in his second over, sending a good length delivery, on off stump. Marsh opted to defend, but got a thick inside edge. Then, with one slip out at midwicket, Bumrah sent a brilliant short of length delivery, outside off with extra bounce. Marsh tried to fend at the ball but it took the outside edge of his bat and landed in to Virat Kohli's hands at slips. The former India captain dived to his left complete the catch with two hands. Turning out to be a big wicket, the Indian pacer was pumped after dishing out the perfect revenge. Revenge, because in the Rajkot ODI, Marsh had taken Bumrah on smashing him for 39 runs off 20 balls at a strike-rate of 195.

With this, Kohli registered the most catches for India in ODI World Cup history (by a non-wicketkeeper), with 15, ahead of Anil Kumble (14), Kapil Dev (12) and Sachin Tendulkar (12). On Saturday, Kohli was seen putting in the extra yard, not only with the bat but with his catching as well. After undergoing batting nets, Kohli spent almost an hour engaging in catching and fielding drills. Kohli is one of the safest Indian fielders but lately has been guilty of putting down certain sitters – most recently against Nepal in the Asia Cup. Ensuring he has his catching skills in check, Kohli made no such errors today.

Initially, Australia captain Pat Cummins won the toss and opted to bat. Explaining his decision, Cummins said that it looked like a good wicket, and due to the sun being out, it seemed like a good afternoon to bat. Meanwhile, India captain Rohit Sharma revealed that Shubman Gill has been replaced by Ishan Kishan, as the opener didn't recover in time.

Speaking about the conditions, he said: "The conditions are there for the bowlers and the ball will turn as the game goes on, you need to understand what line and lengths to bowl and adjust accordingly. We played a lot of cricket before that, we played two good series before the warm up games, we have covered all bases."

The match also makes Rohit Sharma India's oldest captain in a World Cup match, at 36 years old and 161 days. He is ahead of Mohammed Azharuddin (36 years and 124 days in 1999), Rahul Dravid (34 years and 71 days in 2007).