India vs England: Virat Kohli reluctant to leave field after Moeen Ali castles him with a stunning delivery

Virat Kohli’s reaction said it all. The India skipper was absolutely stunned and could not believe that he was bowled through the gates by Moeen Ali. This was not how the script was supposed to unfold in Chennai as the Indian fans were expecting a big knock from their skipper who has not scored a century since November 2019.

Unsurprisingly, there was pin-drop silence at the MA Chidambaram stadium when Ali castled Kohli to send the batting star back to the pavilion for a five-ball duck. The crowd was waiting eagerly for Kohli’s batting as they did not even shy away from expressing their excitement when Cheteshwar Pujara was dismissed by Jack Leach and Kohli walked out to bat.

The joy, however, was short-lived as the right-handed batsman could not even open his account. Coming to the delivery, Moeen should get all the credit for it. It needs something special to dismiss a batsman like Kohli for a duck and Moeen did exactly that. It was a stunning delivery, a classic off-break that was tossed up wide of off, drawing the batsman for a big drive before beating his bat with a sharp turn.

Kohli fell for the trap as he lunged into the shot before being beaten by the sharp pace. The ball passed through his bat and pad before going on to dislodge the bails. The India skipper was completely perplexed and did not want to leave the field as he thought the ball might have dislodged the bails after hitting the wicketkeeper. Consequently, the third umpire had one look but Kohli was wrong as he had no option but to walk off.

Here is a clip of Virat Kohli’s dismissal

What a delivery 😍

Great to see you back out there, Mo!

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— Worcestershire County Cricket Club (@WorcsCCC) February 13, 2021

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— Simran (@CowCorner9) February 13, 2021

Also, watch the video here

England on top:

England have continued their fine start to the tour as they have taken command of the proceedings in the ongoing game too. Having won the first Test by 227 runs, England have India in a spot of bother in this game too. At the time of writing this report, India were reeling at 106 for 3 with Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane in the middle.

Batting first, the hosts were off to a poor start when Shubman Gill departed for a duck. But Rohit and Pujara steadied the ship and were looking set for a big partnership when Jack Leach dismissed the latter against the run of play. It was followed by Kohli’s dismissal as India found themselves reduced to 86 for 3 from 85 for 1.