Virat Kohli had walked off even before the umpire raised his fingers after facing the bouncer from Mohammad Amir. Kohli had made 77 from 65 balls and just after the rain break got the fast bouncer from Pakistan’s best bowler at the World Cup.
Amir, captain and wicketkeeper, Sarfaraz Ahmed along with the close-in fielders appealed fiercely as they all had apparently heard a noise as the ball went past Virat Kohli’s bat. Even Kohli was quite confident that he had edged it as he walked back to the pavilion.
Nonetheless, Virat Kohli was spotted watching the replays from the dressing room and there was a bewildered look on his face as the India captain as it the Snickometer did not detect any edge.
Former India captain, Sourav Ganguly explained on-air that the sound that Virat Kohli heard while going for the pull might have come from the bat creaking. Ganguly added that, at times, batsman’s handles tend to get loose and creak.
MS Dhoni was also spotted swinging Virat Kohli’s bat in the dressing room, possibly testing for the creaking noise.
India managed to add 22 runs in 14 balls after Virat Kohli’s dismissal as India posted 336 for 5 in 20 overs.
Earlier in the day, Rohit Sharma struck his second World Cup 2019 hundred as he made light work of the Pakistan new-ball attack. Rohit, who joined hands with KL Rahul for the 1st time in ODIs after Shikhar Dhawan’s injury, paced his innings brilliantly well as he saw off Amir’s first spell before taking the attack to the Pakistan bowlers.
Rohit brought up his first century vs Pakistan in World Cups during which he stitched the highest-opening stand for India in World Cups vs their arch-rivals (136) with Rahul.
Rohit threw his wicket away as he perished while trying to scoop one over the short fine-leg fielder in the 39th over.
India managed to make 102 runs in the last 11.4 overs, thanks to Kohli who took on the onus of keeping the scoreboard moving after Rohit’s departure.
Mohammad Amir was the star with the ball for Pakistan as the left-arm pacer picked up 3 wickets after giving away just 47 runs in 10 overs.
