The IPL is done and dusted with! International tournaments are back on and all players have been called back home to national duty. Team India, after finishing a convincing campaign against South Africa at home, is now in England practicing for the fifth test match which was abandoned during the 2021 tour of England due to unfavorable conditions. Before the players of both the teams clash with each other during the match, team India decided to have some practice. They are currently playing Leicestershire XI at Grace Road, Leicester in a four-match series. That is where the trouble for Virat Kohli rose up.
The teams have been divided such that a few of the Indian players are a part of Leicestershire’s team. Cheteshwar Pujara, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, and Prasidh Krishna are playing for the Leicestershire XI against the Indian team led by Rohit Sharma. The latter won the toss and opted to bat first.
However, the Indian team had nothing to be happy about, as on the first day their score stood at 175 for 7 till tea time. The skipper was removed by Roman Walker cheaply, for a mere 25 runs. Shubhman Gill too managed only 21 before falling prey to the opposition bowling. Shreyas Iyer fell on a duck to Prasidh Krishna, who admittedly had had a tip from Virat Kohli who was on the non-striker’s end. Virat Kohli appeared to be in fine fashion throughout the innings. He was driving away from his shots beautifully, and his timing was seemingly impeccable.
In the 41st over though, Virat Kohli was adjudged out on a wrong basis. Roman Walker was the man with the ball and his delivery was completely misjudged by Kohli. The umpire felt like it had touched the bat a little before going straight to the wicketkeeper’s gloves. The umpire raised his finger, followed by a constant glare by Kohli. Replays that started rolling in immediately after the decision clearly showed that the ball had touched neither the bat nor his pads, proving the decision made by the on-field umpire to be wrong. Unfortunately, as this was merely a practice match, it had no DRS, making it impossible to overturn the on-field decision, which stayed.
The English and the Indian teams will be clashing in Birmingham on 1st July to decide the fate of the series. India currently leads by 2-1, hence making it extremely likely that the visitors might finally lift the cup on British soil after ages. This also happens to be India’s first series away from home post the IPL.
