'Phir Spin ka shikaar'- Fans react as Virat Kohli's string of low scores in Tests continue

Virat Kohli loses his wicket for mere 12 runs (Source: Twitter)

Virat Kohli could not live up to fans’ expectation of a spectacular return to the longest format of the game as the star India batter got out after a struggle of 26 balls, in them scoring just 12 runs. This is Kohli’s 11^th consecutive innings where he failed to get past the 50-run mark. The last innings of note for the ex-India skipper was the one against Sri Lanka at Mohali in March last year when he scored 45 in 76 deliveries, hitting four boundaries on the way.

Whether it’s a format issue is yet to be seen. Notably, Virat Kohli looked in good touch in the limited-overs game, judging from the recently concluded ODI series against Sri Lanka. The run machine scored two hundreds in the series, the first coming in Guwahati while the second at Thiruvananthapuram. However, Kohli did struggle against the Black Caps in the last ODI series. And, unfortunately, his performance in the first innings of the first BGT Test wasn’t promising either.

Rohit Sharma scored the first ton of the BGT series

While Virat Kohli’s horror show continued, Rohit Sharma, India’s skipper, proved his critics wrong with a smashing hundred. His ton also becomes the first individual triple-figure score of the BGT ’23 series. The hitman achieved the milestone with a boundary off debutant Todd Murphy’s delivery in the fourth ball of the 63^rd over. The debutant has been the pick of the bowlers for the visitors with figures of 4-54 from 22 overs until the 70^th over of India’s first innings.

Earlier, India bowled the visitors out for 177 runs inside 64 overs. Marnus Labuschagne was their top scorer with 49 off 123 deliveries, while Ravindra Jadeja picked up 5, including the crucial wicket of Steve Smith. On the other hand, Ravichandran Ashwin contributed by picking up 3 for the hosts, which included the wicketkeeper-batter Alex Carey, the skipper Pat Cummins and the final wicket of Scott Boland that wrapped things up.

Here are some of the best tweets reacting to Virat Kohli’s premature dismissal:

#ViratKohli's test form is still a big concern. And looks #SKY wants to remain be a T20 specialist.#INDvsAUS

— Gaurav Tomer (@gauravtomer) February 10, 2023

Virat Kohli in Tests since 2022:



12

1

24

19*

1

20

11

13

23

45

29

79*#INDvAUS #BGT2023

— CricTelegraph (@CricTelegraph) February 10, 2023

फिर स्पिनर का शिकार, इस बार पैरों के पीछे से हो गया वार #ViratKohli𓃵 #BGT2023

— Manas Pratim Sharma (@manas_pr_s01) February 10, 2023

That's the brand of Virat Kohli.



Also good luck finding product endorsers for your next venture, @Ashneer_Grover

— 19741458161 (@Strike1AndOut) February 10, 2023

Virat kohli will definitely make a comeback 🐐 pic.twitter.com/DWyBpA4xzd

— Vishal. (@SportyVishaI) February 10, 2023

Virat Kohli Missed his century just 88 Run well play 😅😅@AvinashArya09 pic.twitter.com/mZLFVRtNax

— 乃ɑbɑŕ 𝕂𝕚𝕟𝕘 +⁵⁶🏏♥️ (@alamgirraja94) February 10, 2023

@ virat kohli in tests pic.twitter.com/W6UOGCEdof

— Taimoor Abbasi (@FracturedMalang) February 10, 2023

You can pretty much blame that on Virat Kohli.

If it wasn't for Ravi Shastri he wouldn't be even close to red ball cricket.

— ma7ur (@Imma7ur) February 10, 2023