Team India played a practice match between Rohit XI and Ashwin XI ahead of their two-match test series against West Indies. In the India practice match in West Indies, left-arm pacer Jaydev Unadkat dismissed Virat Kohli on a single-digit score raising another question mark on his form in the longest format of the game.
Virat Kohli has not been in the best of form in the test format for the last three years and couldn’t score big in the recently concluded WTC 2023 final against Australia at the Oval. He has struggled a bit more against left-arm pacers in recent times.
Virat Kohli gets dismissed cheaply against Jaydev Unadkat in Team India Practice Match in West Indies
The Indian players began preparations for the upcoming two-match Test series against West Indies with an intra-squad practice match on July 5. Team India’s key batters- Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane – and their main bowlers – Jaydev Unadkat, Mohammed Siraj, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja – were divided into two different teams.
Virat Kohli walked out to bat with young sensation Shubman Gill in the post-lunch session. His problem against the fourth or fifth stump line is nothing new and it eventually became the cause of his dismissal in the practice game as well.
Jaydev Unadkat used the around the wicket angle against Kohli and bowled a good length delivery outside the off-stump. The experienced batter played at it with hard hands and gave a simple catch to the second slip fielder as Virat was dismissed after scoring just 3 runs off 12 deliveries.
Virat Kohli's dismissal in the practice match in Barbados today. Jaydev Unadkat claimed his wicket. #WIvIND
— Farid Khan (@_FaridKhan) July 5, 2023
Video courtesy: Vimal Kumar pic.twitter.com/IltleUGgwy
In 23 Tests over the course of the last three years, Kohli has scored 1,239 runs at an average of 31.76, including six fifties and a century. These numbers clearly don’t justify the potential of the great batter who has an exceptional overall record.
Meanwhile, in Team India Practice Match in West Indies, both openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal played well against the new ball. Jaiswal scored a fifty as well showcasing his potential ahead of the two-match test series in the Caribbean.
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The first test against West Indies will begin on July 12 at the Windsor Park in Dominica while the second test will be played from July 20 at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad. This will be India’s first test series in the new World Test Championship cycle and Virat Kohli will look to start it on a high note.