On Thursday, October 19, during the 2023 ODI World Cup league stage match against Bangladesh at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune, Virat Kohli was obliged to briefly roll his arm.
Due to his unconventional bowling technique, which he has publicly criticized, Kohli’s bowling is frequently a source of interest. Due to Kohli’s innate ability to swing the ball at a slow tempo, the batsmen do not find the deliveries to be easy to confront.
Although he has only sometimes bowled in recent years, he occasionally rolled his arm over when playing white-ball cricket earlier in his career. Let’s look at five occasions when Virat Kohli’s bowling grabbed attention.
1. India vs Bangladesh (2023 ODI World Cup; MCA Stadium, Pune)
Virat Kohli was brought into the attack after a regrettable injury to Hardik Pandya in the ninth over of the innings. Pandya hurt his ankle while attempting to stop the ball from getting past him during his follow-through. The medical team quickly attended to Pandya, and although he attempted to continue bowling, he couldn’t put much weight on his injured foot and ultimately had to leave the field.
After a six-year hiatus, the former captain made his return to bowling in ODI cricket. He bowled the last three deliveries of the over and showed off his signature right-arm medium pace. In this short spell, he only gave away two runs.
2. India vs England (5th ODI; Sophia Gardens, Cardiff)
Virat Kohli performed his part with the bat in Rahul Dravid’s farewell ODI, producing a beautiful century. Team India scored 304-6 in the first innings, leaving England with a revised goal of 241 runs off 34 overs.
The hosts got off to a fantastic start and were cruising, thanks to a second-wicket stand between Alastair Cook and Jonathan Trott. Virat Kohli, delivering the 18th over of the innings, broke the two players’ burgeoning partnership.
Cook, who had come off the crease to face Kohli, utterly missed the delivery as it slammed into the stumps. Virat Kohli concluded with 1-44 off six overs as India was defeated by six wickets.
3. Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Deccan Chargers (IPL 2008)
Virat Kohli had a disappointing debut season in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but one of the few bright spots came unexpectedly with the ball. He took 2-25 off 3.4 overs to limit the Deccan Chargers to 165 in the first innings.
During his session, the right-arm medium bowler grabbed the wickets of Chamara Silva and Ravi Teja.
Despite the fact that he only scored nine runs off five deliveries during the run chase, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) won with an over to spare.
4. Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings (IPL 2012)
The three-time IPL champions were on the verge of a historic victory over CSK on enemy territory. Kohli hit a fifty in the first inning, guiding RCB to a 205-8 lead.
CSK appeared to be out of the run chase, needing 41 runs off the final two overs to win. Kohli, who had bowled a pretty good opening over of his brief, was given the last over.
Albie Morkel mercilessly attacked the medium pace bowling, scoring 29 runs and bringing CSK back into the game. The battle was won by the Men in Yellow on the final ball.
Virat Kohli has only bowled 2.5 overs in the IPL since then, the most recent of which was in the 2016 season.
5. India vs England (1st T20I; Old Trafford, Manchester)
Kohli got Kevin Pietersen’s wicket with a brilliant dismissal while bowling for the first time in T20Is. He delivered a wide delivery, and MS Dhoni completed a swift stumping by catching the batter slide his foot outside the crease.
Kohli concluded with statistics of 1-22 as India lost the match in the last over after scoring only four runs off five deliveries in the first innings.
