By Josh Hazlewood dismissed Virat Kohli for 63 in the third and final ODI of the series in Canberra to end the Indian captain’s quest for his first century of the year. Kohli walked back after playing a good hand but this is the first time the Indian run machine has missed out on reaching the triple figure mark in a calendar year in the 50-over format since making his debut in 2008.
More worrying for the India captain though would be the fact that he had been dismissed by the Aussie paceman for the third straight time in the series. Add to that the dismissal at the start of the year when Australia visited India and Kohli has fallen to Hazlewood four times in 6 ODI outings this year.
It is not uncommon for batsmen to get out to the same bowler when both are playing against each other every now and then. But to have a streak like this could be worrisome. Overall Hazlewood has now dismissed Kohli on 7 occasions, which includes three dismissals in Test matches.
He has joined an elite list of bowlers like countrymen Adam Zampa and Nathan Lyon who have scalped Kohli’s prized wicket 7 times across formats. The others to have dismissed Kohli 7 times include retired South African paceman Morne Morkel and West Indian Ravi Rampaul.
Kohli’s struggles against James Anderson of England in Test cricket is well documented and the medium pacer along with former England off spinner Graeme Swann has dismissed Kohli 8 times.
But the bowler who has been a scourge for the Indian talisman is Kiwi Tim Southee, who has had Kohli’s number on 10 occasions in international cricket.
Hazlewood is due to come up against the Indian master in three T20Is and one Test match and could actually turn him into his bunny.
The Canberra scalp also meant Hazlewood became the third bowler to dismiss Kohli in three consecutive ODIs. The other two are Pakistan’s Junaid Khan and fellow Aussie Jhye Richardson.
