India vs Australia second Test of the four-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 series has entered an exciting phase on day two of the match after both the teams completed their first innings on a Delhi pitch that is creating something for the spinners.
Australia had made 263 after Pat Cummins won the toss and chose to bat first. Usman Khawaja with 81 and Peter Handscomb with 72* were the prominent scorers for the Aussies, while Mohammad Shami with four wickets and Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja with three wickets each shined for the Indian team.
India resumed their innings on day two at 21/0, but immediately Nathan Lyon had them in trouble, as he dismissed four prominent batters of the Indian top-order. He accounted for KL Rahul (17), Rohit Sharma (32), Cheteshwar Pujara (0), and Shreyas Iyer (4).
Then Virat Kohli (44) and Ravindra Jadeja (26) added a valuable 59-run partnership for the fifth wicket, taking India from 66/4 to 125/5 when Jadeja was out LBW to Todd Murphy.
Virat continued on superbly negating the spin that Murphy, Lyon, and Kuhnemann were getting and played confidently. However, his innings was cut short on 44 runs, thanks to debutant left-arm spinner Matt Kuhnemann, who got him out LBW.
After his dismissal, a fan’s banner went viral on social media. TV cameras had spotted a fan holding a banner saying, “Debutant ko wicket gift mat karna king.’
? https://t.co/BqtSuR9X6x pic.twitter.com/jnau2HH4DM
— prateek • #ForPant (@prateekr9_) February 18, 2023
20th Time Virat Kohli Has Gotten Out To A Debutant In Test Cricket; Matthew Kuhnemann Gets His Maiden Test Wicket
Kohli’s dismissal to Kuhnemann, who is playing his first Test match, created some discussions as this is the 20th time in his Test career that Kohli has been dismissed by a player making his Test debut. This was Kuhnemann’s first wicket in Test cricket.
Kuhnemann got him out LBW, which came after a lot of replays as after the on-field umpire had given Kohli out, he opted for DRS review.
Third umpire Richard Illingworth took a long time to decide whether it was pad first or bat. The crucial point to be considered is the fact that he had to have conclusive evidence to overturn the on-field umpire’s decision, which he clearly didn’t have. It appeared that the ball hit the inside edge of Kohli’s bat and his front pad at the same time.
Ball tracking showed the ball would have just clipped the leg stump so it was the umpire’s call and Illingworth asked Menon to stay with his decision of out.
Kohli’s wait for a Test century since November 2019 and for a Test half-century in last 13 months just got extended.