New Delhi: Indian skipper Virat Kohli shrugged off shoulder injury, incurred during fielding on Day 1 of Ranchi Test, to bat at his usual No. 4 spot on third day's play but didn't last long after being dismissed for just 6 runs by Pat Cummins.
Kohli's dismissal unfolded in a similar way to that of the 1st Test in Pune when Mitchell Starc got him out in slips, with Steve Smith taking the catch then as well as today. (IND vs AUS, Ranchi Test, Day 3 - Live Blog | Scorecard)
Kohli hurt his right shoulder while fielding on Thursday and went off in the afternoon session on the opening day, leaving vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane to lead the side in his absence.
The star batsman underwent scans to his affected shoulder and was later cleared to play by the Indian board`s medical team with no "serious injury concerns".
Kohli, who did not take to the field in the remainder of the Aussie innings, stayed off the ground for 400 minutes but batted at his regular number four spot.
Kohli, 28, walked out to bat at the start of the afternoon session after overnight batsman Murali Vijay lost his wicket at the stroke of lunch.
The captain was greeted with loud cheers by the home crowd at India`s newest Test venue.
After Kohli was dismissed by Cummins, fans took to Twitter to express their dissapointment seeing the Indian captain head back to pavilion without much contribution with the bat yet again.
We're guessing Smith and Wade enjoyed the wicket of Kohli just a little bit https://t.co/6PZpc6Lzji #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/Rgu1AEiHcA
— FOX SPORTS Cricket (@FOXCricketLive) March 18, 2017
Averages in #INDvAUS series...
Mitch Marsh – 12.0
Virat Kohli – 9.2— Brett Anderson (@BAndersonSEN) March 18, 2017
"Great" Kohli probably pass the number of runs Starc scored in this series because Starc wont play this match & next match. #INDvAUS
— Sakun Sankalana (@Sakun_SD) March 18, 2017
Mitch Marsh >>> Kohli
This series #INDvAUS— Sonia (@skrising6) March 18, 2017
Karma is a bitch Kohli thot he wud not field and come and make runs for record but wen u don't give 100% overall this happens #INDvsAUS
— 6th for a Reason (@bebo_pearly) March 18, 2017
Kohli must be attending the trump school on how to act like a fuckwit. Thinks he is better then he is! #IndvAus
— Rob C (@Crocka1976) March 18, 2017
Biggest get for Australia this series, they have so far tamed Virat Kohli on Indian tracks. A feat thought to be unthinkable a month back.
— Kushal Phatarpekar (@kushalp06) March 18, 2017
680 odd runs in 4 tests in #Australia . 46 runs in 5 innings in #India. What an unpredictable game. #IndvAus #Kohli
— Sundar Ganapathy (@sambar_vadai) March 18, 2017
The four-match series between the world`s top two sides is tantalisingly poised at 1-1 with India needing at least a draw to have any chance of winning back the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
