Virat Kohli takes apart Josh Hazlewood with three scorching boundaries

Kohli decided to take the attack to Hazlewood.

Published - 15 Dec 2018, 12:09 IST | Updated - 15 Dec 2018, 12:09 IST

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After Australia scored 326 in their first innings at Perth, India got off to a horrendous start as KL Rahul and Murali Vijay were castled by Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc respectively. Like many other times, the onus was again on Indian captain Virat Kohli to resurrect the innings. The task wasn’t expected to be easy for the 30-year-old as the leather was swinging around prodigiously.

However, Kohli has the prowess to stave off the best in the business. India, at one point in time, were reeling at 8/2 in 5.1 overs. Nevertheless, the Delhi-born cricketer had other plans and he laid into Hazlewood and the counterattack somewhat came as a surprise to the Aussies. The bearded beast smacked three boundaries off the fast bowler and kick-started his knock.

Virat smashes Hazlewood

In the first ball of the 10th over, Hazlewood tried to spear in a Yorker, but it turned out to be a half-volley. Kohli was almost beaten as the ball threatened to sneak in through his bat and pad. He met the leather underneath his eyes and the ball sped away to the boundary between mid-on and mid-wicket. The fielder chased the leather, however, he gave up the chase soon after.

In the second ball, Josh tried to alter his length and dished out a full-pitched delivery. Bearing in mind the playing conditions, it was a decent ball and playing a stroke would’ve been risky. Nevertheless, Virat Kohli took on the challenge and played a drive through mid-off. The fielder patrolling that region made a valiant effort to stop the ball with a dive, but his efforts went in vain.

The ball afterwards was on the pads and Kohli pounced on it yet again. Hazlewood bowled it full and the Indian skipper’s eyes lit up on seeing the ball. The stroke was pretty similar to the first boundary. The fielder had no chance whatsoever to stop the ball from going to the boundary. India would’ve breathed a sigh of relief as they needed someone to inject momentum in the innings.