He dragged India back from the brink with a brilliant unbeaten knock on Day 2 of the second Test against Australia – but skipper Virat Kohli still copped some heavy criticism from legendary opener Sunil Gavaskar on Saturday.
Kohli weathered a fired-up Australian attack on an unpredictable Perth deck to rescue the tourists from a precarious 2-8 in reply to the hosts’ first-innings mark of 326.
He finished the second day on 82 not out with India 3-172 but his captaincy earlier on Saturday led Gavaskar to unleash an uncharacteristic spray on the skipper.
"Astonished, baffled not just surprised," Gavaskar said of Kohli’s captaincy on Sony Sports.
MORE: Australia v India: Usman Khawaja unconcerned by poor start to series | Tourists 'pretty confident' with Virat Kohli at crease, says Ishant Sharma |
Gavaskar was referencing Kohli’s decision not to open the bowling with Jasprit Bumrah as Tim Paine (38) and Pat Cummins (19) produced a valuable 59-run stand.
"Baffled because the ball he bowled to (Tim) Paine with the second new ball towards the end of yesterday's play – pitching on a length, beating Paine and going over wicketkeeper (Rishabh) Pant's head,” he added.
“… Why would you not give him the ball straight away at the start of the day's play?”
Kohli will have the chance to further silence his critics with a seventh Test ton against the Aussies when play resumes on Sunday.
