Melbourne. Virat Kohli, who started the Australia tour with a brilliant century, will play on his favorite ground. Two years ago, when he scored an unbeaten 82 runs in 53 balls against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup to lead India to an impossible victory, there was only one name on the lips of more than 90,000 spectators gathered at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)…Virat Kohli.
With this innings, which is one of the famous stories of cricket, he gave a befitting reply to his critics. After two years, the format is different but the situation is the same. After scoring a century in Perth in the first match of Border Gavaskar Trophy, Kohli could score only 26 runs in the remaining five innings. His fans are sure that his bat will perform well on his favorite ground MCG.
His popularity in Melbourne is such that his name is on everyone’s lips, from tour guides to security personnel. As soon as we reach the ticket counter of the Australian Sports Museum at MCG, we are faced with the pictures of Kohli. Here are pictures of Kohli kissing the Border Gavaskar Trophy after winning the series for the first time in 2018-19 at the Sydney Cricket Ground and celebrating with the team in the third Test at the MCG.
Along with this it is written, “Kohli’s Conquerors (Kohli’s winning team)”. India’s wait to win the Test series in Australia ended in 2018-19.
During the one-hour tour, guide David, who conducts the MCG tour, repeatedly mentions the Border Gavaskar Trophy and the Boxing Day Test and calls it a ‘blockbuster’ match. Kohli is mentioned again and again in his talks, although his favorite Indian cricketer is the in-form fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
David told Bhasha, “This is the biggest Test in Australia and what can be more exciting than the India-Australia match.” I am eagerly waiting for it. In the first Test in Perth, Virat played a brilliant innings which he and the Indian team needed a lot. He is very popular here but we hope that his bat does not work here.
He further said, “Jasprit Bumrah is my favorite who took six wickets for 33 runs at the MCG in 2018 and India also won the Border Gavaskar Trophy. In this series too, Perth had excellent bowling along with excellent captaincy. Looking at his form, he will be a trump card for India but I hope that he does not take five wickets in an innings here again.
Kohli’s performance on Boxing Day
Kohli, playing the first Boxing Day Test in his debut year in 2011, came in at number seven and scored 11 runs in the first innings and also took two catches. He could not open the account in the second innings. Then in 2014, under the captaincy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, batting at number four here, he scored 169 runs and made a partnership of 262 runs with Ajinkya Rahane. By scoring 54 runs in the second innings also, he played an important role in drawing the match.
Last time in 2018, captain Kohli scored 82 runs on this ground in the first innings. Could not open the account in the second innings but took the caps of Mitchell Marsh and Aaron Finch. Bumrah laid the foundation of India’s 137-run win by taking nine wickets and took a 2-1 lead in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Kohli’s explosive record in Melbourne
Kohli has so far scored 316 runs in three Tests at an average of 52.66 on the second largest ground in the world, which includes one century and two half-centuries. For India, he is 133 runs behind Sachin Tendulkar (449 in ten matches) and 53 runs behind Rahane (369 runs in six matches), who scored the most runs at MCG.
Tags: Boxing Day Test, India vs Australia, Virat Kohli
FIRST PUBLISHED : December 22, 2024, 2:46 PM IST