Sydney [Australia], January 3 (ANI): Star India batter Virat Kohli’s latest failure in Test Cricket has witnessed him joining an unfortunate list of players, involving bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah, Keshav Maharaj and Shoaib Bashir instead of batters. He has the second-lowest average while batting in first innings of a Test since 2024 and has been outshined by many tailenders, including Bumrah.
Virat achieved this unique, but an absolutely undesirable stat during the Sydney Test against Australia, which is the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. During his innings, Virat battled hard for 69 balls and got out for just 17 runs without a boundary. His struggles with the outside off stump deliveries continued and pacer Scott Boland dismissed him for the third time in this series.
Since the start of 2024, Virat has batted in the first innings of a Test five times and scored just 35 runs across five innings at an average of 7.00 and best score of 17.
In the first innings, he has had scores of 17, 7, 5, 0 and 6.
Virat has the second-lowest Test average since 2024 while batting in the first innings of a Test, with South African spinner Keshav having an average of 5.4 with 27 runs in five innings and the best score of 24.
At third is English spinner Shoaib Bashir with an average of 8.33, with 25 runs in seven innings and best score of 11.
Virat has been outshined even by pace spearhead Bumrah in this regard, who has had a batting average of 10 while batting in the first innings since 2024, scoring 70 runs in seven innings with the best score of 26.
India elected to bat first. India was off to a disappointing start yet again as the top order threw away their wickets, especially Virat Kohli (17) who continued his struggles with outside off-stump deliveries.
However, the fight by Rishabh Pant (40 in 98 balls, with three fours and a six), Ravindra Jadeja (26 in 95 balls, with three fours) and skipper Jasprit Bumrah (22 in 17 balls, with three fours and a six) pushed India to 185/10 in 72.2 overs.
Boland (4/31) was the pick of the bowlers for the Aussies and once again a thorn in the eyes of Indian batters. Mitchell Starc took 3/49 while Pat Cummins got 2/37. (ANI)
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