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Star Indian batter Virat Kohli was seen hitting the nets soon after the conclusion of the second Test of the highly-anticipated Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. On Sunday, December 8, India were handed a crushing defeat at the hands of the hosts, Australia in the pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval, courtesy brilliant spells from skipper Pat Cummins and left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc.
With this 10-wicket win, Australia not only maintained their clear record of eight wins in eight pink-ball Tests at the Adelaide Oval, they also completed 12 wins from a total of 13 day-night Tests that they have played till date. For the hosts, Mitchell Starc was the wrecker in chief in the first India innings, completing his fourth five-wicket haul with pink-ball, most by a pacer, Cummins completed a five-wicket haul in the second innings to put India on the backfoot.
None of the Indian batters could stand up in their crucial match with Nitish Kumar Reddy being the top-scorer (42 runs in both innings respectively). Virat Kohli, who ended his century drought in the Perth Test, also could not replicate his performance and fell at the scores of seven and 11 in the two innings respectively.
By going out in the nets today, he shows his dedication: Sunil Gavaskar
Seeing his poor performance despite a great record at the Adelaide Oval, Kohli was back in the nets after the completion of the second BGT Test. The 36-year-old not only worked hard to regain his form ahead of the third Test in Brisbane, he also earned laurels from former India cricketer and legend Sunil Gavaskar after the latter had opined that India should practice, instead of sitting at hotel.
“By going out in the nets today, he shows his dedication. But that is what I would like to see from everybody else. He’s not scored runs. He is very proud of what he achieves and does for India, and because he’s not scored runs in this game, he’s out in the nets,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.
“He’s working hard, he’s sweating, and that is what you want to see. After that if you get out, no problem, because that’s what sport is all about. You will get runs one day, will get wickets one day, next day you will not. But you’ve got to put in the effort. He is putting in the hard yards, he is putting in the effort, and that’s why I won’t be surprised if he’s back amongst the runs in the next game,” he added.
