Virat Kohli (Photo Source : Getty Image)
India was bowled out for 46 runs in the first innings of the first Test of the three-match series against New Zealand in Bengaluru. This was India’s lowest total at home and the second lowest overall after they registered 36 all-out against Australia in 2020 in Adelaide. Former England cricketer Michael Atherton drew a common factor between the two instances and took a dig at former India captain, Virat Kohli.
When India registered their lowest score in 2020, Kohli was leading the team in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Four years down the line, another fumble came at the hands of Kiwis when Kohli, albeit not as captain, was still part of the team. Atherton took a jibe by saying that the 35-year-old is was part of the team on both occasions and the instances have gone down in his CV.
Also Read: Those three hours are not going to dictate what this team is – Rohit
“India’s 46 all out in the first Test against New Zealand came only four years after their lowest-ever score, 36 all out against Australia in Adelaide. India’s batsmen plumbed the depths again before the previous embarrassment had slipped from memory. Virat Kohli’s glittering CV now includes being a part of two of India’s three lowest-ever scores,” Atherton wrote in his column for Times.
We both know what it’s like to captain a side bowled out for 46: Michael Atherton
Atherton also lauded Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for he “owned up” his fault of choosing to bat first in an overcast Bengaluru.
“Why, by the way, is there greater opprobrium towards a captain who wins the toss, inserts the opposition, disastrously, over one who bats first and it all goes wrong? Rohit owned up, but it seems unlikely in years to come that he will be reminded of it in the way that Nasser Hussain was about Brisbane in 2002, when, having inserted Australia, his bowlers were flogged around the Gabba as Australia reached 364 for two at the end of the first day,” said Atherton.
It is worth noting that England, under Atherton, registered their lowest totals in Tests. They were bowled out by West Indies for 46 in 1994 chasing the target of 194 in the second inning in Port of Spain. Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh orchestrated a splendid for the West Indies as they plucked six and three wickets respectively.
“Welcome to my world, Rohit. There is not that much common ground between myself and India’s swashbuckling captain, Rohit Sharma, but we both now know what it is like to captain a side that has been bowled out for 46,” Atherton added.