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Former Australian captain Michael Clarke believes the extra bounce off the Perth wicket did Virat Kohli in in the series opener on October 19. Playing for India for the first time since early March, the veteran right-hander was dismissed for an uncharacteristic eight-ball duck.
Edging to get off the mark, Kohli drove at a delivery not full enough off Mitchell Starc, only to be caught at backward point. It was his first-ever duck in an ODI down under.
Talking about Kohli's disappointing Team India return on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, Clarke said (7:02):
"That muscle memory of just game after game, which he has done for 15 years, but then have six months off and play in very, very foreign conditions is hard. If his first game back was in India, I think he's straight back into it. But because he's in Australia, that shot he played, in India he cover drives that for four."He added:
"Here, it bounced and hit him a bit higher on the bat, he's out in front of himself and gets caught at backward point. So, their top three, for them to get out like that, sort of sums up their play throughout the game. Their bowlers tried to get their lengths right and some mixups in the running, so they were just underdone."Kohli's early dismissal meant India never got going with the bat and finished with a sub-par 136/9 in 26 overs (reduced due to rain). The hosts chased the score down comfortably with almost five overs to spare.
"Playing games is just different" - Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke believes Virat Kohli's lack of gametime showed up on his return in the first ODI at Perth. Despite being away from Indian colors since the 2025 Champions Trophy, the 36-year-old played the entire IPL 2025 season and helped the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) achieve glory.
"That's Virat Kohli's first duck in an ODI at Australia ever. So not the place to start in what looks like it's going to be his last tour to Australia. He'll be disappointed. He hasn't played for a long time and even though he looks as fit as ever and might have been batting fine in the nets, playing games is just different," said Clarke (via the aforementioned source).Virat Kohli will look to bounce back in his favorite hunting ground, Adelaide Oval, in the second ODI on Thursday, October 23.
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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
English (US)