IND vs AUS, 1st ODI: Virat Kohli Irked As Hardik Pandya Throws Away Free Hit Chance, Watch

Former India captain Virat Kohli is known to wear his heart on his sleeve. He sets very high standards and expects others to follow those standards as well and even an occasional inadvertent slip-up often generates a miffed reaction from Kohli.

This was on display in the first ODI of the series between bitter rivals India and Australia at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Friday. It was the fourth delivery of the 18th over of the Indian innings and stand-in skipper Hardik Pandya was at the crease facing up to medium pacer Marcus Stoinis. India were in a spot of bother, having lost four wickets for 78, chasing a modest 189 for victory.

Also read – IND vs AUS, 1st ODI: Hardik Pandya Fumes After Being Stopped In His Run-Up By Mitchell Marsh, Watch

Stoinis bowled a full and straight delivery that was played back to him by Pandya. However, the umpire caught the Australian pacer to have overstepped and signalled no-ball. Pandya faced the resultant free-hit delivery and you would have backed the swashbuckling batsman to make the fullest use of the opportunity.

However, not every day does everything go according to plan and instead of sending the ball sailing towards the stands, all that Pandya could do was play it to deep mid-wicket for a single. One had to credit Stoinis’ presence of mind. He cleverly slowed the pace of the delivery, which made Pandya mistime his pull.

The camera turned to Kohli in the dressing room and the former captain was visibly disappointed. Videos of Pandya’s miss and Kohli’s reaction were shared on social media and soon became viral. See them here:

Pandya did not stay long enough after this incident to be able to make amends. Stoinis had the better of him again, getting him caught at deep backward square leg by Cameron Green off a bouncer. The Indian captain managed to score 25 off 31 deliveries with three fours and a six.

India, however, did not have to endure any more mishaps as KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja played meaty knocks to take their side home with more than 10 overs to spare. While Rahul overcome a recent slump in form to hit a sparkling 75 not out off 91 balls, with seven fours and a six, Jadeja was unbeaten on 45 off 69 balls. Jadeja’s innings included five hits to the fence.

Also read – IND vs AUS, 1st ODI: After Dropping a Sitter, Shubman Gill Redeems Himself with Two Stunning Catches – WATCH

Earlier, India overcame an energetic start by Australian opener Mitchell March (81 off 65 balls) to skittle out the visitors for 188 in the 36th over. Pacers Mohammad Shami and Mohammad Siraj took three wickets each and Jadeja chipped in with two wickets to put the brakes on the visitors’ innings. Shami was the pick of the bowlers, who took his wickets while going for under three runs per over.

With India 1-0 up in the series, the action now shifts to Visakhapatnam on March 19. The final match of the series is to be played in Chennai on March 22.

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