Live Score
Cricket Teams
Cricket Players
Watch: Virat Kohli's gesture minutes before India vs Western Australia warm-up match takes internet by storm
Just before the start of the match on Monday morning, Kohli's gesture for the fans won hearts. The India No.3 was seen signing bats, jerseys and caps at WACA much to the delight of the fans present. Kohli, however, did not play the match. He, KL Rahul and Ravichandran Ashwin were rested from India's XI.
When there is Virat Kohli, there is excitement, energy, noise and a whole lot of anticipation of what is next. Such is the fan-following of the former India captain that even an unofficial warm-up match can create a festive-like atmosphere. India's first warm-up match against Western Australia on Monday ahead of the T20 World Cup was no different. The Western Australian Cricket Association Stadium in Perth was near to full capacity to catch the Indian cricketers in action and needless to say, the biggest cheers were reserved for Kohli.
Just before the start of the match on Monday morning, Kohli's gesture for the fans won hearts. The India No.3 was seen signing bats, jerseys and caps at WACA much to the delight of the fans present. Kohli, however, did not play the match. He, KL Rahul and Ravichandran Ashwin were rested from India's XI. Perhaps that was one of the main reasons why Kohli spent that extra bit of time with the fans ahead of the start of the match.
The rest of the fans broke into the Kohli Kohli chants even as the former captain was seen signing autographs.
Watch Video: Virat Kohli signs autographs ahead of India vs Western Australia warm-up match
India captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to bat first. In Rahul's absence, Rishabh Pant opened the batting with Rohit but India did not get off to a great start as Jason Behrendorff dismissed the Indian captain for only 3.
Deepak Hooda walked in at No.3 and played a blazing 22-run knock before he too fell to the left-arm pacer. Pant struggled a lot against West Australia pacers Jhye Richardson and Behrendorff. His struggle finally came to an end when was dismissed for 9 off 17 balls off Andrew Tye.
Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya did the rebuilding for India after they lost three wickets for not too many. Hardik scored 27 while Suryakumar continued on his merry way and brought up yet another impressive fifty.
The right-hander was finally out for 52 and Dinesh Karthik and Axar Patel took India to 158 for 6.
India will play another warm-up match against Western Australia on Wednesday before flying to Brisbane for their two official warm-up matches against Australia (on the 17th) and New Zealand (on the 19th). The Rohit Sharma-led side will start their campaign in the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup against Pakistan on October 23.
