Watch: Virat Kohli falls first ball splicing Fareed Ahmad bouncer | IND vs AFG
Watch: Virat Kohli fell for a golden duck in the early stages of the third and final T20I of the series between India and Afghanistan at Bengaluru.
India entered the third T20I having already secured the series following back-to-back wins at Mohali and Indore. The Bengaluru T20I functions as India’s final T20 fixture before this year’s T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA.
Kohli missed the series opener for personal reasons but looked in sublime touch during his short stay at the crease in Indore. With India chasing 173 and having lost skipper Rohit Sharma for a golden duck in the first over of the run chase, Kohli made the most of the powerplay fielding restrictions scoring 29 from his 16 deliveries before eventually chipping to mid-off off the bowling of Naveen-ul-Haq.
The former India captain looked to start his innings in the third T20I with similar intent. Coming to the crease following the fall of Yashasvi Jaiswal – who skied a rising delivery from left-arm seamer Fareed Ahmad, Kohli looked to take the attack to Afghanistan from his first ball.
Fareed dug in a short delivery that Kohli attempted to pull. The ball, perhaps sharper and rising more steeply than Kohli anticipated, struck the splice rather than the middle of Kohli’s blade. It spooned towards Afghanistan captain Ibrahim Zadran who completed a straightforward at mid-off. The dismissal was Kohli’s first golden duck in T20I cricket.
The procession did not stop there. In the following over Azmatullah Omarzai accounted for Shivam Dube before Fareed struck once more, claiming Sanju Samson in nearly identical fashion to the wicket of Kohli. Samson, also facing his first ball, looked to pull a back of a length delivery only to find – like Jaiswal and Kohli before him – that the bouncer was more pronounced that he played for. Samson’s fall left India 22-3 at the end of the fifth over.
You can watch Virat Kohli’s first ball dismissal to Fareed Ahmad below:
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