WATCH: Virat Kohli pulls off MS Dhoni to help set up Faf du Plessis’s wicket

01/14/2018

MS Dhoni is known for his astute cricketing brain and he successfully hand-holds spinners to deceive batsmen. Today, Virat Kohli did the same as he asked Ishant Sharma to pitch the ball little fuller which resulted in South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis being castled for 63 on the very next ball.

Nothing seemed to work in India’s favour for the first 80 overs of the match, but once Hardik Pandya turned the tide in India’s side with a beauty of a run-out, the hosts lost two more quick wickets to hand India the initiative at the end of Day 1. Gaining the upper hand, India were supposed to go through the lower order without any difficulty, but du Plessis and Kagiso Rabada continued to frustrate the Indian team and that was compounded when India dropped two consecutive catches. However, after Rabada’s dismissal, Kohli knew that it is just a matter of time before the visitors could wrap up the South African innings.

After Morne Morkel took a single off the third ball of the 113th over, the stump mic picked up Kohli handing out some MS Dhoni-esque advice to Ishant. Kohli could be heard asking Ishant to pitch the ball up by saying, “Teen ball hai. Saare aagerakh. Usko edge bhi lag sakta hai,” which loosely translates as, “There are three balls left. Pitch it fuller because there is a chance of him picking up an edge.”

The pacer duly obliged his captain’s orders and hit the full-length area. The ball was angled in from over the wicket and thanks to a hint of late swing, du Plessis had no chance as he tried to go for a drive. The late swing uprooted the middle-stump to send the South African skipper packing for a well made 63. The ball was the perfect demonstration of keeping the seam position intact, but the credit must go to the skipper for advising the pacer to go for a fuller delivery instead of pitching it on a good length.

Get updates! Follow us on

Open all