Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke feels that the additional bounce on the Perth pitch worked against Virat Kohli within the series opener on October 19. Making his first appearance for India since early March, the experienced right-hander was dismissed for an unusual eight-ball duck.
Attempting to get off the mark, Kohli attempted a drive at a delivery from Mitchell Starc that wasn’t full enough and was caught at backward point. This marked his first-ever duck in an ODI in Australia. Speaking about Kohli’s underwhelming return for Team India on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, Clarke stated:
“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 tough. If his first game back was in India, I believe he’s straight back into it. But because he’s in Australia, that shot he played, in India he cover drives that for 4.”
He further 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, form of sums up their play throughout the sport. Their bowlers tried to get their lengths right and a few mixups within the running, in order that they were just underdone.”
“The Way He Plays Is Just Different” – Michael Clarke
Michael Clarke feels Virat Kohli’s absence from competitive international cricket was evident during his comeback in the primary ODI at Perth. Although he had not represented India for the reason that 2025 Champions Trophy, the 36-year-old featured throughout IPL 2025 and played a key role in leading Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to victory.
“That’s Virat Kohli’s first duck in an ODI at Australia ever. So not the place to start out in what looks prefer it’s going to be his last tour to Australia. He’ll be disillusioned. He hasn’t played for a very long time and although he looks as fit as ever and might need been batting positive within the nets, playing games is just different,” said Clarke (via the aforementioned source).
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