BGT | Twitter in awe as Kohli backs Siraj against hesitant Rohit to perfectly mastermind Smith's dismissal

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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Red-ball cricket is all about working batsmen over and sticking to set plans but a lot of that substance often gets lost behind the scenes. The stump mic offered a great glimpse of the same on Wednesday when Virat Kohli insisted Mohammed Siraj's plan would work to Rohit Sharma and it paid dividends.

All chaos broke loose on Day 5 of the third Border Gavaskar Trophy Test at the Gabba as Australia set out to chase an unlikely victory with both time and the weather stacked against them. India ended their first innings on 260, 185 runs behind their rivals' first innings score of 445, but the Aussies had merely two sessions and a half to set a target and then bowl out India if they wanted a result. What followed was a gangbuster batting approach but to their misfortune, the side came up against brilliant new ball spells from Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj and were reduced to 28/4 in no time. Out walked Steve Smith next, having been tactically demoted to allow free scoring from the likes of Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head, and had Siraj in his sights in no time. What followed was genius planning from the Indian think tank to get rid of the first-innings centurion.

With Siraj coming on to bowl the 11th over, Rohit Sharma asked Siraj to bowl from around the wicket while passing him by. However, Virat Kohli quickly came to his former RCB teammate's rescue, stating Siraj should stick to over the wicket. Rohit argued the angle would make it easier for Smith to open up his stance, and stood with his arms folded by the stumps, thus summoning a mini meeting with Kohli. The veteran batter explained that if Siraj now bowled a scrambled seam delivery angling down leg from the middle stump, Smith would be dead meat. The hesitation was writ large on Rohit's face but Virat asked his captain to have faith and requested a square leg in position to subside the risks.

As it turned out, Smith won the first battle by charging down the ground on the penultimate ball of the over and thumping Siraj over his head for an authoritative four. But ultimately, Kohli and Siraj had the last laugh when he tickled the next ball off his thighs and a flying Rishabh Pant completed the job with an exceptional take, much to Twitterati's admiration.

Kohli backs Siraj

Great catch

Spiderman

Excellent

Superb

DSP on fire

He does that

Fantastic

Smith gone

Declare

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