Is it the beginning of the end for one of the most glorious chapters in the history of Indian cricket? After registering consecutive ducks for the first time in his international career, Virat Kohli lifted his right hand up, gave a quiet little wave at the crowd, almost to say goodbye. Adelaide Oval has been his fortress. He has scored the most runs (975) by a visiting batter (across formats) at this venue. He got a rousing reception when he walked out to bat and after his four-ball stay in the middle, the cheers certainly did not match it but the crowd did give him an ovation and Kohli, as uncharacteristic as it may sound, acknowledged it by waving goodbye.
Was it because it was perhaps the last time he was walking back to the pavilion at this venue? Or did it mean something deeper, like an ODI retirement? Needless to say, social media was abuzz. And more than Kohli's consecutive ducks, it talked about his quick wave to the Adelaide crowd.
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Kohli's return to international cricket has been anything but normal. Playing his first series after a seven-month break - he is now retired from T20Is and Tests - Kohli was dismissed for a painful eight-ball duck in the series-opener at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday (October 19). It was once again a delivery going away from him with left-armer Mitchell Starc's angle. After failing to get off the mark in seven balls, Kohli pushed at with hard hands, trying to force things. The ball bounced a bit more than he expected, caught the outside half of his bat and flew to backward point, where the fielder made no mistake.
{{/usCountry}}Kohli's return to international cricket has been anything but normal. Playing his first series after a seven-month break - he is now retired from T20Is and Tests - Kohli was dismissed for a painful eight-ball duck in the series-opener at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Sunday (October 19). It was once again a delivery going away from him with left-armer Mitchell Starc's angle. After failing to get off the mark in seven balls, Kohli pushed at with hard hands, trying to force things. The ball bounced a bit more than he expected, caught the outside half of his bat and flew to backward point, where the fielder made no mistake.
{{/usCountry}}Three days later, it was an incoming delivery that brought about his downfall. Xavier Bartlett set Kohli up beautifully. He bowled a couple of back-of-a-length deliveries that went away, then started to go slightly fuller and closer to the stumps before bowling what can be described as the fullest ball of his spell to trap Kohli right in front.
Kohli, who is genuinely extremely strong off his pads, failed to make any contact. The umpire raised his finger without hesitation. Kohli had a brief chat with Rohit Sharma and decided to walk back without taking a review. It was the right call as the ball tracker suggested that it was going to hit the middle of the middle.