Kohli and Gambhir React As India Avoid Follow On: Indian Cricket Team batter Virat Kohli and head coach Gautam Gambhir reacted to the team avoiding a follow-on against Australia in the ongoing third Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But is it a sign that the Australian Cricket Team has been utterly dominating India in this series?
Today was Day Four of the third of five Australia vs India Test matches, this one being played at The Gabba in Brisbane. India won the toss and decided to bowl first. Day One was almost entirely washed away by rain. Day Two started with India taking some quick wickets before Travis Head and Steve Smith scored 100s and took the Aussies past the 400-run mark.
Behind by 445 runs on Day Three, the Men in Blue got off to a horrid start, losing four wickets before reaching 50 runs. The day ended at 52/4.
Day Four started with captain Rohit Sharma losing his wicket too. But then, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja worked on saving this Test match, scoring 50s. While it was unlikely that the Indian would even approach Australia’s score, the aim for the day was to avoid a follow-on, which would all but hand the match to the home side.
With over 100 runs left to avoid the follow-on, Rahul got out. Then, it came to Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy to save the game. First, Reddy got out, and then Mohammed Siraj. With about 30 runs left, Jadeja got out as well with one wicket left.
However, from this point, Jasprit Bumrah and Akash Deep batted well and closed in on the follow-on score. It was a boundary by Deep that eventually took India past the line. India ended the day at 252/9 and trailing by 193 runs heading into the final day.
Watch: Virat Kohli and Gambhir React As India Avoid Follow On
A moment that is going viral is the reaction of Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir to Akash Deep’s boundary confirming that India will not have to bat for the second time in a row.
However, the reaction to that reaction has not been entirely positive. Just as a reminder, Kohli was dismissed for just three in this inning and has not been in the best form despite scoring a ton in the first match. He is especially being criticised for getting out in a similar way again and again, edging a ball in the line of the 5th/6th stump.
So, for a team that people expect to be favourites in any match, they head in to celebrate not a victory, but just avoid a humiliation, which did not sit right with many.
Some then also began criticising Kohli for his poor form all over again.
Avoiding the follow-on almost certainly means that India avoided a loss in this match, which means that the series will most likely go into the final two Tests with a scoreline of 1-1. However, it is not the Men in Blue’s ability, but the rains stopping play on all days that will result in this third India vs Australia match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy ending in a draw.
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