NEW DELHI: When things do not fall in place for the bowlers, the entire team puts on their thinking hat to turn their fortunes around. In an order to take wicket, Virat Kohli displayed a hint of superstition on the second day of the first Test against South Africa that promptly yielded positive results for his team.
Dean Elgar and Tony de Zorzi were batting with utmost ease and scoring runs at their will to leave Indian bowlers frustrated. Then Kohli experimented with his luck as he walked up to the stumps and flipped the bails at one end after the end of the 28th over.
Soon in the 29th over, De Zorzi (28 runs from 62 balls) was caught at the third slip-off by Yashasvi Jaiswal. In the 31st over, Bumrah struck again to dismiss Petersen (2 runs from 7 balls).
Earlier, former English pacer Stuart Broad did the same trick during the Ashes 2023 series following which the speedster dismissed Marnus Labuschagne in the Oval Test.
Broad reacted to Kohli's antics and shared a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Kohli's impressive bail-flip magic, unfortunately, didn't endure as Elgar regained control. The ex-South Africa captain, participating in his farewell series, hammered his 14th Test century.
India ended their inning at 245 after Rahul (101 runs from 137 balls) once again proved to be the 'Man of Crisis'.
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