The 'blinder' was meant to happen, says Hanuma Vihari on Virat Kohli's sensational catch

India did not start proceedings in the second Test against Australia on a good note. Australia skipper Tim Paine decided to bat first after winning the toss and his decision was totally justified by the Australian openers. Marcus Harris and Aaron Finch laid the foundation for a good total with a solid start. Despite the pitch being covered by grass, the duo did not let India’s strong pace-attack to make early inroads.

In fact, the two made sure that the hosts do not lose any wicket in the first session, thus making things easy for their teammates. Australia were 66 for no loss when lunch was called. Soon after the break, both the openers reached their fifties before India clawed their way back into the game. Jasprit Bumrah gave the visitors the much-needed breakthrough by sending back Finch for 50. 

India soon got rid of Usman Khawaja, Harris and Peter Handscomb to reduce Australia to 148 for 4. And the pick of the lot was Handscomb’s wicket with Virat Kohli taking an absolute blinder at the second slip. Handscomb had tried to steer a short delivery from Ishant Sharma over the slip cordon. However, the India skipper stretched his right arm and held on to complete a sensational catch and put India on top.

Speaking at the end of the day’s play, Vihari opened up on the catch, calling it a blinder before saying it was meant to happen. “It was a blinder. Those are the moments that change the course of the game. We needed something after lunch to change the rhythm. It was a screamer. We were lucky he had come to slip in that very over. It was meant to happen,” he said.

Teams share honours

India made a late comeback in the game to end the day on a good note. Australia were 277 for 6 at stumps despite Finch and Harris adding 112 runs for the first wicket. Apart from Finch and Harris, Travis Head also scored a fifty while Shaun Marsh scored 45. For India, Ishant Sharma and Vihari picked up two wickets each.

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~ Written by Bijoy

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