Team India’s star batter Virat Kohli continued his poor run of form at the ongoing T20 World Cup, being dismissed for a golden duck in the match against the USA on Wednesday. Former Indian cricketer Saurabh Netravalkar, now playing for the United States, dismissed Kohli with a delivery that beat his outside edge, resulting in an easy caught-behind.
This marked Kohli’s first golden duck in T20 World Cups and his first in international T20 matches.
Netravalkar, the left-arm pacer, gave Kohli enough width to attempt a drive through the covers. However, Kohli failed to middle the ball, which took a thick outside edge and was easily caught by wicketkeeper Andries Gous. Indian captain Rohit Sharma, at the other end, looked visibly disappointed after the dismissal.
A couple of overs later, Rohit Sharma also fell to the same bowler. A thick outside edge flew high and was caught inside the circle by Harmeet Singh, dismissing Sharma for 3.
Left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh delivered a career-best performance with figures of 4-9, including two wickets in the first over, as India restricted the USA to 110-8. Arshdeep surpassed Ravichandran Ashwin’s previous record for the best figures by an Indian in T20 World Cup history; Ashwin had recorded 4-11 against Australia in the 2014 edition.
Despite the modest target, India remained cautious about chasing on the notoriously tricky and slow pitch at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, where they had recently scored just 119 in a narrow six-run victory over Pakistan.
A win in this match would secure India’s place in the second-round Super Eights. Arshdeep’s early breakthroughs saw him dismiss recalled opener Shayan Jahangir lbw on the first ball and have Andries Gous caught in the deep five balls later, leaving the hosts at a precarious 3-2 after the opening over.
