'Ajinkya Rahane Was At Complete Fault For Virat Kohli's Run Out'- Sanjay Manjrekar
Published - 17 Dec 2020, 11:15 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:38 AM
Indian captain Virat Kohli’s run-out on the first day of the first innings of the opening Test against Australia in Adelaide was a major talking point. Virat Kohli’s wicket opened the gates for Australia to come back into the game when it looked like the momentum had shifted towards India. Given Kohli had to depart via a run-out, courtesy of Ajinkya Rahane’s poor call, Sanjay Manjrekar was surprised by his composure.
The incident occurred in the 77th over when Nathan Lyon was bowling. Ajinkya Rahane, who was on strike, drove on to mid-off, where Josh Hazlewood was standing close and there was no run. Regardless, Rahane responded and Virat Kohli committed himself by running half-way down the pitch. But by that time, the vice-captain had reversed his call, leaving Kohli stranded. Hazlewood threw the ball to Lyon, who collected the ball cleanly to dislodge the stumps at the non-striker’s end.
Virat Kohli, who was batting at 74 off 180 balls was set and heading for the elusive three-figure score. The right-handed batsman came to the crease at the 19th over and stitched partnerships of 68 and 88 with Cheteshwar Pujara and Rahane respectively to stabilize an innings that started shakily. India, who chose to bat first after winning the toss, lost openers Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal without desired scores. By the end of the day, they dragged themselves to 233-6.
Virat Kohli did the right thing, he had no business to look back: Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar expressed surprised as Kohli kept his composure as Ajinkya Rahne sold him down the river, citing that the visiting captain was right to run. Manjrekar also said that there was no run at that point and that the vice-captain should have taken note of that instead of his partner, who was at the non-striker’s end. The former Indian batsman pointed out there existed disgust but the emotion from the fans was more of pain.
“I was amazed that Virat Kohli kept his composure. Completely the fault of his partner, there is nothing to suggest that Kohli shouldn’t have backed up that much. There was no run there, the fielder was too close. Kohli did the right thing, he had no business to look back. A little bit of disgust was shown but those are the painful moments that compensate for all the other perks you get from the game,” Manjrekar told Sony Six.
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