India vs Australia: Virat Kohli loses wicket to Scott Boland for the third time in BGT series
India batsman Virat Kohli who has done it all before is having a bad spell in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series against Australia.
Kohli has many a hand-to-break achievement but his form this season has sent him under the radar. The 36-year-old earlier had held Team India by the hair and scored a host of Test awards. But then they’ve come around to lambasting him for his consecutive poor Test knocks.
So far Australia pacer Scott Boland (inducted into the BGT camp in the middle of the series) has become Kohli’s nightmare.
The 36-year-old – once described as the greatest cricketer of all time – got the series underway in the BGT series on a high and the fans hope that the batsman continues this trend. But Kohli got the fans back with a bad start.
Kohli took unbeaten 100 runs off 143 balls at an average of 69.93 in India’s second innings of the BGT 2024-25 Perth Test, as India scored 295-run victory against the dominant Aussies.
Kohli looked impatient on the crease at Adelaide Oval after his century in Perth. But soon after, Kohli finally put the Indians in their place after he was out for seven from eight deliveries at 87.50 by Aussie paceman Mitchell Starc in the first inning.
The Indian batsman was bowled out for just 11 runs in 21 balls later in the second inning at Adelaide Oval against Scott Boland.
Australia came back in the match as the hosts picked up a massive 10-wicket win over India. After the second Test, Australia evened the series at 1-1 against India.
After the loss in Adelaide, Team India was on a trip to Brisbane to play Australia in the third Test match of the series. While the Brisbane Test was forfeited after constant rain, Kohli failed his fans.
Kohli had a six-ball knock of three and got out off an Aussie pacer Josh Hazlewood during the opening innings at The Gabba. Cricketers were expecting a mauling knock from Kohli in the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne. But the star India batsman was in bad shape.
Kohli was on 36 from 86 balls, with a strike rate of 41.86 in the Melbourne Test match. Later in the inning, Boland had him strikeout again.
The 36-year-old got only five runs from 29 balls in the second inning and was clobbered by the Aussie batsman Starc. India lost their Melbourne Test by 184 runs to Australia and are out of World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25.
Cricketers were waiting for the return of Kohli in the Sydney Test. But the India batter was not able to redeem it. The 36-year-old was once again sloppy in Sydney and racked up just 17 from 69 balls. He was fired by Boland again on Friday.
All seven dismissals Kohli took in the ongoing BGT series against Australia have come either from the Aussie keeper or from the slips, after benefiting from the off stump stump outside edge.
It has been the stats that show the Aussie paceman Boland is Kohli’s Test nightmare. The Indian batsman has played against Boland for six innings on the long format and he has conceded just 32 at 32.65 against the Aussie opener. Overall batting average of Kohli against Boland: 8.
Four times Boland has dismissed Kohli in Tests. At the current prestigious BGT series, Boland got rid of the Indian middle order batsman three times. The other was at the WTC Final in 2023 at The Oval when Kohli gave into Boland’s tempo.
India have been through a change in Test cricket team and Kohli has to return to his best in order to remain in the squad. Indian cricketers still look to the 36-year-old for a miracle, however.
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