Ex-Australia ODI captain Michael Clarke has backed Team Indiabatting maestro Virat Kohli to bounce back in the second ODI to be played in Adelaide. In the Perth ODI, Kohli again failed to tackle the outside
off-stump delivery against veteran pacer Mitchell Starc. The magnificent bounce on the pitch also helped Starc to bamboozle Kohli. The star India player walked back to the pavilion with an eight-ball duck. It was Kohli’s maiden ODI duck on Australian soil. Clarke, the World Cup 2015-winning captain, feels Kohli got trapped due to extra bounce on the wicket.
Appearing on Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, Clarke said if Kohli faced the same ball in India, it would’ve reached a boundary. “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 hard. If his first game back was in India, I think he’s straight back into it. But because he’s in Australia, that shot he played, in India he cover drives that for four. 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, sort of sums up their play throughout the game. Their bowlers tried to get their lengths right and some mixups in the running, so they were just underdone,” said Clarke.
“He will try to get back the thought process of the old vintage Virat Kohli. He will try to get that mindset. He will try to play with freedom. The result is not in your hands. He will pay attention to the process. Whatever he has been known for, he will try to bring that Virat to the ground,” added Clarke.
Eyes will be set on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the second ODI
After their flop shows in the first ODI, both Kohli and Rohit Sharma will have to dominate the bowlers in the remaining couple of games. Rohit, who is 38, is aiming to serve India in the World Cup 2027 but to keep himself relevant in the squad, he has to deliver impactful knocks as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma are also waiting for their chances in the opening slot.
Kohli got dismissed without scoring any runs in the first ODI while Rohit became Josh Hazlewood’s victim after hoarding only eight runs off 14 balls. The second game will be do-or-die for the Men in Blue and the two batting legends will be expected to step up in the must-win clash.
