The third ODI in New Chandigarh between India and the West Indies had its share of surprises. For the first time in the series, India are batting first and are in early trouble. So far, in the series, the Indian top order has been on song, delivering the game for them in the first two matches. But in the third ODI, the hosts have been reduced to 3/2 inside the first two overs.
Shubman Gill fell prey to Jayden Seales on a delivery that surprised him with the extra bounce. This brought Virat Kohli to the middle, and for the first time in the series, Indian fans had a chance to watch Kohli and Rohit bat together. The first ball Kohli faced was a wide outside the off stump. On the very next delivery, Seals bowled a full delivery at the off and middle stump line that swung in a tad. Kohli was looking to flick it across the line and missed it completely. The ball crashed into the stumps, and Kohli had to walk off with a golden duck.
A rare occurrence for Kohli
Notably, this is just the fourth golden duck for Virat Kohli in ODIs. He has been impeccably consistent in the format, and his stats reflect that. The last time Virat Kohli was dismissed on the first ball was, incidentally, against the West Indies in Visakhapatnam in 2019. In that case, the bowler was Kieron Pollard.
Besides these two, Kohli has two other golden ducks in ODIs. One against the same West Indies at North Sound in 2011, with Darren Sammy being the bowler. The other was against England at Dharamshala in 2011, when Tim Bresnan dismissed him off the first ball.
The Indian fans were still celebrating their gold medal in the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, when they were rocked by the early dismissal of the two star batters. India had not struggled with the bat in the series so far.
The loss of the two early wickets was especially surprising given the record chase India mounted in the second ODI. Chasing 405, India achieved the task in just 43.3 overs, losing just two wickets. The effort was led through a double hundred by Shubman Gill. Even in the first ODI, India chased down 295 runs in just 41.4overs, losing only two wickets. So in the two matches prior to this, India had actually scored 706 runs, losing only four wickets. From there, being two down for three runs was really shocking for this star-studded Indian line-up.
However, this early collapse gave India a good chance to take a look at their so far unexposed middle order. In this ODI series, Ruturaj Gaikwad has so far had to contribute little, and this match exactly provides him the opportunity to prove his worth. Also, batters like KL Rahul, Nitish Reddy and Naman Dhir might get a go. Despite the early shock, India will see it as a good test for their middle order, especially with the series being sealed after the previous match.
