Disastrous start for India A

Indian Test captain Virat Kohli’s woeful form continued as hosts India A were shot out for a paltry 135 by Australia A in the second unofficial ‘Test’ match, here on Wednesday.India A captain Cheteshwar Pujara opted for batting but it took Australia A only 68.5 overs to bowl out the hosts as Kohli, on whom lay the entire focus, struggled badly during his hour-long innings of 16 that came off 42 balls.

In reply, Australia A safely negotiated the final hour reaching 43 without loss in 13 overs with Cameron Bancroft (24 batting) and Usman Khawaja (13 batting) at the crease.For Australia A, their whole bowling unit executed the plan perfectly. While paceman Gurinder Singh Sandhu (3/25) had the best figures, it was the left-arm spin twins Steve O’Keefe (2/30) and Ashton Agar (2/23) who dealt the telling blows at the top of the order.

Agar in fact, got the prize scalp of Kohli with an arm ball that he failed to negotiate. It was a delivery that came straight as Kohli neither linged forward nor went on backfoot as he was struck plumb in-front.It was a frustrating stay at the wicket for the Test captain even though he hit the other left-arm spinner O’Keefe for a straight six and got a boundary off Agar.

Coming back from a month-long vacation, Kohli did look rusty as he did not seem like getting used to the pitch of the deliveries.Earlier, India A captain Pujara (11, 36 balls) and Abhinav Mukund (15, 49 balls) played too slowly as only 18 runs came off the first 10 overs.It was back-up seamer Marcus Stoinis, who got Pujara out in a manner that has become familiar with the Saurashtra batsman. He was beaten by an incoming delivery that castled him.

Karun Nair (50, 153 balls, 5x4) made amends for the failure in the first match but had little support from the other end.Mukund was out trying to cut O’Keefe while Shreyash Iyer (1) misread the line and was bowled. Naman Ojha (10) played 84 balls without much success before he lost his cool and was stumped off an Agar delivery.

Once Nair was out in the post-tea session caught by Joe Burns off pacer Andrew Fekete, the last five wickets fell for 26 runs in 11.5 overs with Sandhu wrapping up the tail.Brief ScoresIndia A: 135 (Karun Nair 50; Sandhu 3/25) lead Australia A: 43/0 by 92 runs. 

‘Hoped to play longer with Kohli’

Top scorer Nair rued that he missed out on the chance to play alongside Kohli, who “unfortunately got out” cheaply.Nair was the lone Indian batsman who scored a fighting half-century even as India A were shot out for a paltry 135.“I was hoping to play a bit longer with him (Kohli) but unfortunately he got out. I would have learnt a lot if I had played a longer innings with him. I could have picked up a few things watching him from close quarters. But he got out. I hope I get a chance with him in the second innings,” Nair said.

Nair said it was not easy to bat on a slow and turning track with the visiting team bowlers coming up with a “disciplined” performance. “I think the wicket was quite slow and turning a bit. They really bowled very well. It was hard to bat on and if we had to get runs, we had to take our own chances.“They were not giving any free balls and we were also losing wickets regularly. It was difficult to take chances against them. They were disciplined and patient, and they did not give any easy balls to us,” explained Nair.

The cricketer from Karnataka admitted that he lost concentration after reaching his fifty. “I was playing well. I should not have got out at that time. Once I got 50, I should have put my head down and played. I lost of bit of concentration and the ball was coming up slowly after pitching.”Nair said it was a huge thing for him to be working with Rahul Dravid. “It is a good chance for anyone to be working with Rahul. For me it is a huge thing. He has played a lot of cricket and he advises us to how handle situations while batting, bowling or fielding,” said Nair. 

Agar pleased to remove Kohli

Agar said it was pleasing to take the prized wicket of Kohli. “It was satisfying to take the wicket of Virat. He is one of my favourite players to watch. It was a great opportunity to bowl to him and it was even a greater opportunity to get his wicket. I am very pleased with that,” said Agar.

On the pitch, Agar commented: “I think it was on the slower side. There was little more bounce than the pitch that we played on in the first Test. This pitch was harder on the top when we commenced the game and there was more carry on the wicket. We learnt from the last game that we should keep it tough.”