IND vs AUS: Australia deploy intriguing field placement to dismiss Virat Kohli

The penultimate day of the fourth and final Test match between India and Australia witnessed an interesting passage of play when former Indian skipper Virat Kohli was batting with the Indian tail. Kohli, who scored a chanceless century against the visitors to end his century drought in the longest format of the game, was invited to take the singles as Steve Smith sent all his fielders to guard the fence.

The Aussie skipper resorted to this field placement as Virat Kohli was batting with the tailenders and needed to do the bulk of the scoring to increase India's lead and register a double-century. However, Smith's decision paid dividends as the Indian batting ace departed in an attempt to clear the ropes, bringing the Indian innings to a halt.

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Captain Steve Smith was successful in stopping Virat Kohli from reaching a double century with this field set. 📸: Disney + Hotstar

05:21 PM · Mar 12, 2023

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Kohli, who was on course for a magnificent double century, started running out of partners once Axar Patel departed after a brilliant half-century. Veteran offie Ravichandran Ashwin was dismissed by Nathan Lyon as the former tried to launch the Aussie for a maximum. 

India were without the services of Shreyas Iyer, who complained of back pain on the fourth day of the Ahmedabad Test and was taken for scans. Iyer's absence meant that the home side were a batter short and Kohli needed to bat with Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami to reach his double ton. But Umesh was run out without facing a delivery after Peter Handscomb's rocket throw from the deep. 

The Australian skipper spread his field, inviting the Indian star batter to either give the strike to Mohammed Shami with a single or clear the ropes himself. Kohli chose the latter option but failed to make a good connection with the ball and was dismissed by Todd Murphy for a fourth time in the series. 

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