Virat Kohli's woeful form continues as the Indian skipper throws his wicket cheaply against New Zealand

The two-match Test series between India and New Zealand finally kicked off at the Basin Reserve in Windy Wellington. Leading into the series, all eyes were on how the Indian batting– in particular Virat Kohli– as to how would they fare against the troika of the New Zealand pace attack in helpful conditions.

Indian captain Virat Kohli has had a lean tour of New Zealand thus far. The Indian captain has managed just a solitary half-century across the four Twenty20 Internationals and three ODIs- where he could manage just 75 runs in three games at an average of 25.

But on Friday- the first morning of the opening Test- things proceeded to become even worse for both India and its captain- as Kohli unleashed his 2014 England tour moniker by chasing a wide delivery outside the off-stump, only to see Ross Taylor take a juggling catch in the slips, giving debutant Kyle Jamieson his second wicket of the morning.

It was a brilliant set-up by the 6’8″ lanky fast bowler as he kept pushing the Indian captain back with his length before eventually dangling a carrot outside the off-stump which Kohli chased, only to find a thick outside edge. 

Virat Kohli does an encore of England 2014 in Wellington

Kohli’s wicket came in as a major body blow for Team India after they had just lost Cheteshwar Pujara to a pearler by Jamieson. Pujara was looking well primed to play long innings and dig India out of a hole but Jamieson accounted for him with an unplayable delivery, one that pitched on a fullish before straightening just enough to induce the outside edge of the Indian No.3’s bat.

While Pujara’s dismissal was pure because of the delivery- no one could have done anything about it- it was the dismissal of Virat that has left the fans worried and disappointed. The Indian captain had successfully exorcised his demons of England 2014 during his 2018 bout against the Dukes and Anderson, and to see him fall in the same manner as he did back in 2014 was indeed disappointing, and the fans will hope that it is just an aberration and not the norm.

Here’s the dismissal:

One of those typical Virat Kohli's UNWANTED way of getting OUT. #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/AKN9Ef01f9

— Doshant Girdhar (@Doshantgirdhar) February 21, 2020