India star batter Virat Kohli continued his woeful form in red-ball cricket in the Sydney Test. The 36-year-old was only able to score 17 runs before getting dismissed by Australia pacer Scott Boland. The even more frustrating part here is that Kohli once again lost his wicket while chasing a delivery pitched outside his off-stump.
Courtesy of his dismissal, Kohli went on to register an embarrassing record, as he recorded the second-lowest first innings average in Test cricket, taking matches since the start of 2024 into consideration.
Kohli embarrassingly has a lower average than that of India pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah in Test cricket since the start of 2024. The only player who has a lower average than that of Kohli is South Africa spinner Keshav Maharaj.
Lowest first inning averages since the start of 2024 in Test cricket
1. Keshav Maharaj (South Africa) – 5.4
2. Virat Kohli (India) – 7
3. Jasprit Bumrah (India) – 8
4. Shoaib Bashir (England) – 8.3
Things could have turned out to be far worse for Kohli during the first day of the Sydney Test as he ended up edging the very first delivery that he faced down to the second slip. Fortunately for him, Steve Smith ended up dropping the catch, giving Kohli a massive lifeline.
Smith seemed to have let the ball touch the ground as he tried to grab the ball in slips. Eventually, the decision was handed to the third umpire, who ruled in Kohli’s favour and the batter remained on the field.
