Under the scorching sun at Kanpur’s Green Park Stadium, Jasprit Bumrah bowled around 15 deliveries to Virat Kohli in the nets and ‘got him out’ four times.
Kohli looked comfortable on the first three balls, before Bumrah cranked it up and got one to hit the pads and shouted “saamne laga hai (You are plumb).” Kohli acknowledged.
Next ball, Kohli played his trademark cover drive, which got the groundsmen, local police and a handful of journalists in the stands go berserk. Bumrah walked back, and bowled at the fourth stump line but this time the length was shortened and Kohli edged it.
Bumrah then moved his line of attack to the middle and leg stumps and outfoxed Kohli twice in a row. Both times the ball lobbed after the inside edge hit the pads. Bumrah smiled at Kohli and teased him “Aakhiri wala toh short leg ka catch tha (The short leg could have catched the last one).” Kohli smiled before moving to the parallel net, where the spin trio Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel were bowling.
Virat Kohli defending a ball in a Test match. (FILE photo)
In recent times, Kohli’s struggles against spinners have become well known. In Chennai, he was dismissed by off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 17, which was the 18th time since 2021 that Kohli got out to spinners.
He was struggling against the Indian spin trio in the Kanpur nets as well, especially the two left-arm spinners. Kohli constantly tried to play inside-out against Jadeja, but missed three times in a row and looked agitated. However, the eye-catching moment was Axar cleaning up the master batsman through the gate.
That was the last ball Kohli played in the nets before making way for Shubman Gill.
Shakib fit and available
Twice in the morning during Bangladesh’s practice session, Shakib Al Hasan padded up and faced the local spinners for five to seven minutes. Both times, he walked off furiously towards the Bangladesh dressing room.
Shakib bowled only 21 overs in Chennai, going wicketless, and scored 32 and 25 in Bangladesh’s 280-run loss. He was introduced in the 53rd over of India’s first innings. Murali Kartik, on air, had said that Shakib had told him about discomfort on his spinning finger and shoulder.
Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hassan celebrating the wicket. (FILE photo)
However, Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusinghe on Wednesday downplayed concerns around Shakib’s fitness after the finger injury sustained in Chennai.
“At the moment, I haven’t heard from my physio or from anyone. He is still eligible for selection,” Hathurusinghe told reporters.
When asked whether he was upset with Shakib’s performance in Chennai, Hathurusinghe said: “I’m not. I’m upset not about his performance but our overall performance. We could have done better.”
“I’m sure that he also thinks that he can perform better. We all know what he’s capable of. I think he batted really well in the second innings. He couldn’t go on. Not because of a lack of pride. It’s the sheer quality of the opposition.”
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