It might be too late, but South Africa might just have found the ultra-rare super recipe to get rid of Virat Kohli in Test cricket. The Indian skipper is a nightmare for bowlers in all formats of the game and at home in Tests, where he averages 68.44, Kohli is immovable.
Anrich Nortje accounted for him with a sharp inswinger at Ranchi and earlier in the series Senuran Muthusamy dismissed him with a sharply turning delivery.
So what’s common between these two dismissals? Both were the maiden Test wickets of the respective bowlers. In fact, in both the occasions Kohli has been dismissed this series, he has gotten out to bowlers in search of their maiden Test scalp.
This isn’t a first either. Here are the instances when Kohli became a bowler’s first Test wicket.
Kagiso Rabada - Mohali 2015
On a slow and low Mohali wicket in that infamous 2015 series, Kagiso Rabada made a rather understated debut in the longest format of the game. His first wicket? Virat Kohli caught at cover for 1. Kohli tried to flick Rabada’s full-length ball to the leg-side but ended up getting a leading edge to cover where Dean Elgar snaffled an easy catch.
Alzarri Joseph - Gros Islet 2016
Alzarri Joseph might be famous for smacking AB de Villiers on the helmet as a 19-year old in the Caribbean Premier League, but he has a more enviable record that has flown under the radar – Virat Kohli for a first Test wicket. Opening the bowling alongside Shannon Gabriel in the home series in 2016, Joseph snared the big fish, Kohli, by bouncing him out. The short ball reared up on Kohli who fended to first slip to be dismissed for three runs.
Senuran Muthusamy – Vizag 2019
Thwarted by Mayank Agarwal and Rohit Sharma’s 300-run stand, South Africa were weathered out at Vizag in the first Test of the 2019 series. Even when Vernon Philander breached the defence of Cheteshwar Pujara, South Africa had Virat Kohli to counter. But to the surprise of many, little known Indian-origin left-arm spinner, Senuran Muthusamy on debut, dismissed the Indian skipper with a sharply turning delivery that held up on the wicket. Kohli ended up giving a return catch to be dismissed for 20.
Anrich Nortje – Ranchi 2019
The quickest bowler in the opposition camp, Anrich Nortje went wicketless in his debut at Pune. However, he had impressed the South African think-tank enough to retain his place for the Ranchi Test. As part of a three-prong pace attack, Nortje impressed after coming in post a new ball spell form Rabada and Ngidi. Nortje targeted Virat Kohli’s fourth stump line for a couple of balls before curving one back onto his pads to trap him in front for 12. Despite a review from the skipper, Nortje retained the wicket, his maiden scalp in Tests.
Feature image courtesy: Twitter / @ICC
