In a video that is being widely circulated among fans, Virat Kohli is seen wilfully bumping his shoulder into Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis during a heated on-field exchange in the third and final ODI
Virat Kohli, Marcus Stoinis (Pic Courtesy: AFP/ANI)
There are several reasons why India’s former skipper Virat Kohli seems endlessly fired up, perhaps one has to delve deep to comprehend him, the cricketer and the man. There is an expressive reaction after every near-miss, temper writ large on his face after every spill, and who could possibly miss his over-the-top celebration even for a tail-ender’s dismissal. There is never a dull moment for him, perennially charged up with a body language that is permanently over the top. And Wednesday was no different.
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In a video that is being widely circulated among fans, Kohli is seen wilfully bumping his shoulder into Australian all-rounder Marcus Stoinis during a heated on-field exchange in the third and final ODI.
Watch the video below.
No Adam Zampa was hurt in this Stoinis-Kohli bromance ❤️pic.twitter.com/OzsFNuBwg0
— Israr Ahmed Hashmi (@IamIsrarHashmi) March 22, 2023
The incident occurred during the 21st over when the 34-year-old bowled several dot balls to KL Rahul, following which an irked Kohli walked up to Stoinis and engaged in an aggressive shoulder barge with the fast bowler at the non-striker end. It was believed to be a friendly collision, as Stoinis had a self-satisfied smirk on his face, unstirred and continuing his bowling onslaught.
Meanwhile, coming to the match, Australian spinners Adam Zampa and Ashton Agar turned the match in their favour to hand India their first ODI series defeat at home since 2019 in a thrilling third and final match in Chennai. Left-arm spinner Agar removed in-form Virat Kohli (54) and the world's top-rated T20 batter Suryakumar Yadav for his third consecutive golden duck with the first two balls of the 36th over to leave the hosts reeling at 185-6 with a target of 270 to win.
Captain Rohit Sharma said that Indian batters failed to carry on after getting a start to ‘take the game deep’. "All of us were trying our best to go out and achieve that but it just didn't happen," the Indian skipper said. "Obviously a loss like this really hurts. But again we can understand what we need to do better as a team, as a group," he added.