Virat Kohli had a brief 15-20 minutes of match simulation practice at WACA, scoring a mere 15 runs before being dismissed by Mukesh Kumar. KL Rahul had been the one at the crease until he walked off with an elbow injury, after which Kohli went in. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was India’s other opening batter Jaiswal, did not last long either and as a result, left Kohli and Shubman Gill stranded in the middle. Although Kohli was looking to play some of those exquisite drives that he is known for, he was not always successful given the bounce that the WACA pitch managed to offer on most areas.
Mukesh Kumar, Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini and Nitish Kumar Reddy, were some of the bowlers Kohli faced. Mukesh was however said to be the most formidable opponent for Kohli out of the bunch according to ‘Cricbuzz’. Mukesh had a skiddy approach to his bowling which made it hard for Kohli. At one point, the ball even touched the underside of Virat’s bat and dropped softly in front of the slip fielders.
Kohli did manage to play some beautiful cover drives but, his efforts were in vain as he was dismissed by Mukesh while attempting to play a 5th stump line delivery. To help him focus on his batting, throwdown specialists were available and Virat proceeded to the nets.
In contrast, when he re-entered the middle, he appeared to be in better rhythm this time. Kohli tackled the task shocking everyone, be it judgement of line and length, or hand-eye coordination, but departed the field after scoring 30 runs without losing his wicket.
The likes of Jaiswal, Gill and Rishabh Pant too kept alternating between match simulation and practice in the nets. After sufficient time spent practicing in the middle, Kohli was busy joking around with Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah, maintaining a light-hearted attitude days before the series started.
Gill, on the other hand, hurt his thumb while playing the simulated match and is a big doubt for the Perth Test. Given that Rohit Sharma is also doubtful for the Perth clash, it goes without saying that Virat must take charge of the batting department, being the eldest player in the team.
In the Perth Test, Dhruv Jurel may be included in the team as a straight batter whereas all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is predicted to make his first appearance in whites.
