New Delhi: That Virat Kohli is the best with the willow in hind in the current Indian team is an established fact. On Sunday, the Indian captain decided to make a strong case for himself in clinching the best fielders’ tag in the Indian set-up.
Kohli, who has raised the fitness bar by several notches, gave a proof of his rocket arm and accuracy while running out Daniel Christian with a direct hit from long on during the 1st T20I at Ranchi.
The throw crashed onto the stumps even before Ms Dhoni’s gloves could get into position – a rare occurrence in itself.
Australia were already in disarray at 113 for 7 at the start of the 19th over when Daniel Christian decided to take on Kohli for a touch –and-go second run. Kohli hurried on to the ball in the wink of an eye and unleashed a bullet-like return to the striker’s end. A startled looking Dhoni knew it straight away that Christian was short of his ground when the ball hit the stumps and replays proved him right.
Australia were restricted at 118 for 8 before rain ended their innings after 18.4 overs of play. When play resumed, India were given a target of 48 in 6 overs via DLS method, which the hosts knocked off with 9 wickets in hand and two balls to spare to go 1-0 up in the three match series.