When India faced Australia in their World Cup opening match, Jasprit Bumrah made history. In the meantime, Virat Kohli passed Anil Kumble on a list of legends.
With Australia reeling at 5/1 in 2.2 overs, India got off to a strong start in their World Cup 2023 opener when Jasprit Bumrah struck opener Mitchell Marsh for a six-ball duck. It’s a unique wicket because this is the first time in the history of the ODI World Cup that India has sent back an Australian opener for a duck.
Bumrah opened the bowling, scoring in his second over with a well-placed, good-length delivery on off-stump. Marsh chose to defend but was given a significant inside edge. Then Bumrah produced a magnificent short of length delivery, outside off with additional bounce, with one slip remaining at midwicket.
Virat Kohli’s hands at the slips were in contact with the ball as Marsh attempted to deflect it with his bat’s outside edge. The former captain of India dived to his left and made a two-handed catch. The Indian pacer was ecstatic after dishing out the ideal retaliation, which turned out to be a significant wicket.
Revenge, as Marsh had attacked Bumrah in the Rajkot One-Day International, hitting him for 39 runs off 20 balls at a strike rate of 195.
With this, Kohli surpassed Anil Kumble (14), Kapil Dev (12), and Sachin Tendulkar (12) in terms of most catches for India in ODI World Cup history (by a non-wicketkeeper). On Saturday, Kohli was observed going above and above with both his batting and catching.
Kohli practised his catching and fielding skills for nearly an hour after using the batting nets. Although Kohli is one of the safest fielders for India, he has recently been found guilty of dropping some easy catches, most recently against Nepal in the Asia Cup. Kohli avoided similar mistakes today by making sure his catching abilities are under control.