IND vs AUS: 5-ball duck for Virat Kohli against Australia, fans want him back to No. 3 spot

It appears that the opening spot for Virat Kohli in Team India is not favoured by either him or the fans, as the batter has now registered his second duck in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2024. Playing against Australia, an opponent against whom Kohli has typically excelled, he departed for a five-ball duck at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium in Gros Islet, St Lucia.

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This marks Kohli's third duck in eight innings in T20Is in 2024. Prior to 2024, he had been dismissed without scoring only four times in 107 innings in the format. Following his dismissal, fans took to X (formerly known as Twitter) expressing their desire for Kohli to return to his usual No. 3 spot and not be shifted. While he performs well as an opener in the Indian Premier League (IPL), batting after a wicket has fallen is generally more favourable for him.

Regarding Kohli's dismissal:

Josh Hazlewood struck in his first over, and Kohli departed without troubling the scorers. Kohli attempted a big shot but ended up edging the ball towards wide mid-on. Tim David sprinted back from inside the circle, kept his eyes on the ball, and took a comfortable catch. Another disappointing performance for Kohli in this tournament as playing as an opener for India doesn't seem to be benefiting him much.

Meanwhile, India staged a strong comeback despite losing Kohli early, with skipper Rohit Sharma aggressively attacking the Aussie bowlers. He smashed 5 sixes and 4 fours to reach his half-century off just 19 balls despite the game being rain-interrupted. India had posted 52 runs after being asked to bat first.

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah

Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, David Warner, Mitchell Marsh(c), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim David, Matthew Wade(w), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood.

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