Kohli's struggle continues

Virat Kohli, making his return to India's Test team after missing the last home series against England due to personal reasons, was dismissed for 6 runs while batting at number 3. India were already struggling at 28/3 in the first session of Day 1 after Bangladesh won the toss and chose to field.

Bangladesh fielded a playing XI featuring a mix of experienced players and young talent, who recently outperformed Pakistan at home by winning their first-ever 2-match Test series against them in international cricket. Despite India being the favorites before the series, they found themselves in a difficult position when captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed for 6 runs in the 5th over of the innings.

Just as India was recovering from Rohit’s wicket, they suffered another blow when star batter Shubman Gill, who failed miserably, got out for a duck to Hasan Mahmud, the same bowler who dismissed the Indian captain.

All hopes were then pinned on India’s ace batter Virat Kohli, playing on home soil after 17 months. However, he fell short of expectations and was dismissed for just 6 runs. Hasan Mahmud delivered a full-length ball that moved slightly away from Kohli after pitching outside the off stump. The delivery tempted Kohli into attempting a drive, but the seasoned batsman made a familiar mistake, playing away from his body with hard hands. As a result, the ball caught a faint outside edge, and Bangladesh’s wicket-keeper, Litton Das, took an easy catch behind the stumps. Kohli, who was expected to rescue India from trouble, disappointed with another poor performance. This marked yet another failure for Kohli in the past month, as he also struggled to score runs in the 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka, which India lost 2-0.

Currently, India are at 327 runs, with Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja at the crease, scoring 97 and 79 runs respectively. After a horrific collapse of India’s middle order, they have formed a crucial 183-run partnership for the 7th wicket.