Former Australian batter Simon Katich took a hard dig at Virat Kohli’s dismissal during India’s second innings of the Boxing Day Test, saying “The king is dead," when India’s star batter fell cheaply to Mitchell Starc for 5 runs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Sunday.
Set a challenging target of 340 runs, India faced a major setback in the first session of Day 5. Kohli, batting on 3, was dismissed in the final over before lunch, edging a wide delivery from Mitchell Starc to the slips.
Kohli had a forgetful outing in the series so far; he started off with a dismal score of five before scoring a century in the second innings in the series opener in Perth. Subsequently, he logged the series of 7, 11, 3, 36 and 5 in the following five innings, tallying up to 167 runs in four matches.
"The King is dead. He trudges off. King Bumrah has taken the mantle now. Kohli looks dejected with himself. That was a big knock for him. He has come up short. Australia will be very, very happy with the situation they find themselves in."
Bumrah has almost single-handedly kept India alive in this Test series, having taken 30 wickets at an average of 12.83 in eight innings. He has played 44 Test matches and taken 203 wickets.
Kohli’s dismissal left India reeling at 33 for 3 by the lunch interval, with their hopes of salvaging the Test hanging by a thread. Post lunch, India mounted a spirited fightback, courtesy of Rishabh Pant and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The pair exhibited composure and grit, stitching together a crucial 88-run stand. However, the resistance crumbled after the tea break, when Pant succumbed to a rush of blood as he was dismissed for 30.
The last seven wickets of the visitors came crashing down for 34 runs in 20.3 overs. It was when Nathan Lyon bowled Mohammed Siraj, which left the MCG crowd in excess of 74,000 in ecstasy as an epic contest between two arch-rivals came to a close with less than 14 overs remaining in the day and with one wicket left in Indian's innings.
For India, they will be disappointed because it was a game that they could have drawn but have now ended up on the losing side.
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