Australia v India 4th Test: Ruthless Virat Kohli slams shut door on weary Aussies with stunning knock
A Virat Kohli masterclass and a mysterious injury to Usman Khawaja, which led to a baffling batting reshuffle, has Australia perilously placed heading into the final day of the fourth Test.
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Virat Kohli always saved his best and worst for Australia, his hundred on the fourth day of the fourth Test was a little bit of both as he put India in position to win the test.
The champion, whose numbers were in such decline he was threatening to be ejected from the game’s Big Four, struck his first century since November 2019 in an innings so slow it makes it difficult for Australia to square the series.
As he moved toward 200 and India past Australia it allowed Axar Patel to hit out after the tea break and give the visitors a chance to snatch the match on the last day.
The spinner whose batting was critical to India winning the first two matches hit four sixes, three of them off Matthew Kuhnemann went soaring into the ecstatic stand at cow corner.
RELIVE ALL THE ACTION AS IT HAPPENED BELOW
India declared a lead of 91 late on the fourth day.
Australia’s tough day was made a little worse when Usman Khawaja left the field after falling heavily while trying to catch a six on the boundary.
To add insult to injury Peter Handscomb dropped Kohli, fumbling an easy outfield chance from Lyon’s bowling late in the day.
When Todd Murphy got the former Indian captain on 186 India shut its innings.
Kuhnemann opened in Khawaja’s place despite the unhelpful claims from the dressing room that he was only suffering “soreness”.
Minor injuries usually turn out to be major ones in Australian cricket. Past experience suggests a severed leg would be reported as a scratch.
He and Travis Head survived six over before stumps.
“It is going to be a massive challenge obviously,” wicketkeeper Alex Carey admitted after 180 overs behind the stumps.
“We will put a fair bit of focus on that first hour of cricket and then we’ll see how that unfolds.
“I thought really well today to, I guess, minimise the lead, obviously they don’t have Shreyas (he left ground for scans and did not return) batting so we were able to have a change of innings which was nice later in the day.”
Carey said Kuhnemann volunteered to be the night watchman and lauded him for that after what he said was a tough day for the bowler who finished with 1-94 from 25 overs.
Lyon finished with 3-151 from 65 overs, the most he has ever bowled in an innings, Murphy 45.5 overs and took 3-113.
Kohli is not the batsman or the person he once was, but Australia seems to light a spark in him even still.
The former Indian captain announced himself by flipping the bird to an Australian crowd in the summer of 2011-12 and hinted at his talent with a century in Adelaide — his first at Test level.
He’d scored seven against the men who wear the baggy green before Sunday’s knock — all but one of them while a visitor to their shores.
Kohli’s struggled against spin and hence battled on his home pitches in recent years, but the century which broke a frustrating 44 run drought was on a wicket where batters turned the tables on the spinners.
Good batting tracks in India are an endangered species, but when one is found the wielders of willow pitch their tent and make the most of the scenery.
Kohli scored just 29 from 92 deliveries on a Sunday morning that was sleepier than anything Kris Kristofferson ever encountered.
The Australian spinners, coming down from good times on raging turners of the first three Test, again stuck to their task and probably deserve praise for restricting the scoring.
In fact, Todd Murphy and Nathan Lyon did more than that.
The younger of the duo proved his prowess in all conditions with a six ball set that began with Ravindra Jadeja (28) smashing him over his head and ended with the batter smudging him to mid on.
Lyon was then, justly rewarded, with the wicket of KS Bharat (44) but by then India had crawled toward 400 and thrown a blanket over the Australians hopes that they could grab a first innings lead and issue a difficult proposition on the last day.
India’s approach gives their bowlers the upper hand on the last day.
Kohli and the Australians are so friendly these days it is not unusual to see him engaged in long discussions between overs, although that is mostly with Lyon who has never been one who wholeheartedly embraced the ugliness of the previous era.
There’s no doubt pre-sandpaper Australian sides loved a scrap, but there was none more keen to engage in one with them than the former Indian captain.
Before the last Border Gavaskar Trophy in India Kohli had said he had “close friends” in the visitor’s dressing room
After what was a particularly hostile series he was asked if that remained so.
“No, it has changed. I thought that was the case, but it has changed for sure,” he replied. “As I said, in the heat of the battle you want to be competitive but I’ve been proven wrong.”
“The thing I said before the first Test, that has certainly changed and you won’t hear me say that ever again.”
While Kohli did not play in the final Test of that series it was assumed he was behind the home team’s decision to snub an offer for the two groups to drink together.
The Australians, who were on the balcony expecting company, were left to drink alone when their opponents got on a bus and left the Dharamsala venue.
Steve Smith acknowledged things might have got a little out of hand on his part in that 2017 square off when he said he’d let his emotions falter during the incident marred encounter.
On the following visit to Australia Kohli was the provocateur, clashing with Australian captain Tim Paine in Perth, but he has mellowed in the interim.
The Indian famously walked toward the boundary while batting at The Oval and implored Indian fans to treat Smith with respect at the 2019 World Cup.
“I feel like in life; nothing can be that permanent that you carry it on for life. People make mistakes, and they learn from it, and I felt like it’s not fair to target an individual personally, that’s what I felt at that moment,” said Kohl in a short video shared by BCCI on Twitter.
The pair had something of a love in after the gesture by Kohli.
“He is a terrific guy and the way he has led the Indian team has been amazing. They are an amazing side and can’t wait to play them when they come out to Australia this year, will be something incredibly special.”
10:07PM - INDIA 578. INDIA INNINGS COMES TO AN END, AUST FACE ANXIOUS FIGHT
Australia trails by 91 runs and must survive 18 months before stumps on day four.
The draw is still the favourite result, but India could suddenly roar into contention to win the fourth Test if they can take early wickets.
They’ve already received a potential leg-up with Usman Khawaja injuring his knee in the field and not returning to the field.
Matthew Kuhnemann has been sent out to open the batting with Travis Head in Khawaja’s absence.
Kuhnemann is the normal No.11. Mitchell Johnson, the Australian Test great, described the decision to open with a nightwatchman as “baffling”.
Virat Kohli was the last man out for India for 186, missing out on a double century, but with no choice but to try and smash for the rope.
Australia had pushed all fielders to the fence, and with Kohli refusing to take singles to put Mohammed Shami on strike, he had to go the tonk.
Nathan Lyon bowled a marathon 65 overs - the most he has ever sent down in a single innings in Test cricket.
Ultimately it was rookie Todd Murphy who got Vohli yet again this series - with the youngster finishing three wickets from his 45-over ironman effort.
Lyon also finished with three wickets.
Matthew Kuhnemann is going to open the batting instead of Usman Khawaja. Reason given is 'time off field' for Khawaja, who hurt his left leg attempting a catch. Still unclear how severe the injury is #INDvAUS
— Louis Cameron (@LouisDBCameron) March 12, 2023
Matt Kuhnemann wasn't even in India for the first Test of this series and by the end of it has ended up opening the batting and the bowling for Australia.
— Daniel Cherny (@DanielCherny) March 12, 2023
9:13PM - 6-555. AXAR PATEL TEES OFF ON AUSSIES AS INDIA RAMP UP PRESSURE
Pressure on Australia is intensifying as tail-end nemesis Axar Patel once again threatened to bash them out of a Test.
The draw is still the favourite in Ahmedabad, but suddenly India is smashing their way into a position where they can put serious pressure on Australia on the final day of the fourth Test. They lead by 75 and Usman Khawaja has a knee injury and hasn’t returned to the field.
However, Australia can now start to try and put the clamps down after Mitchell Starc managed to bowl Patel for 79.
India are hammering it at over 6 an over after tea on day four, with Patel and Virat Kohli’s stunning partnership worth over 150 in quick time.
Patel was motoring with four sixes, while Kohli has upped the ante since breaking his three-year Test century drought, and is now eyeing off a double century for the ages on 177 no tout.
Kohli only had five boundaries when he passed triple figures, but has smashed another 10 since.
Australia is now breathing a huge sigh of relief that Patel is gone, but they aren’t out of the woods by any stretch.
Even though he bats at No.8 (although he’s come in at No.7 in this innings due to a back injury to Shreyas Iyer), Patel has arguably been the batsman of the series.
In the first Test Patel made 84, in the second Test, 74 and in the third Test he was not out in both innings and only stopped by a lack of partners.
Now in the fourth Test, Patel is charging towards a maiden Test century.
If India can lead by over 100 at stumps, they may try and push their lead up to 160 or so before sending Australia in with over two sessions to try and save the Test.
Australia should be able to hold on, but the wicket is starting to play up a little bit more than it has over a flat and arduous four days.
In the back of their mind is the fact Australia has been bowled out in a session twice in this series.
8:27PM - 5-500. AUSSIES DROP TWO CHANCES AS INDIA EYE SHOT AT UNLIKELY WIN
Cameron Green missed a crucial chance to nab a flying Virat Kohli as India take the lead in the fourth Test.
A couple of overs later, Steve Smith dropped an equally tough chance offered by Axar Patel, and now there is only one team that can win the Test.
After tea on day four, India is 5-491, putting them 20 runs in front and a chance of leading by 100 by the end of the day if they can score quickly enough.
Adding to Australia’s woes is the fact Usman Khawaja has a left knee injury and has not returned to the field.
Kohli is 154 not out but gave a low chance to Green at mid-off from the bowling of Todd Murphy.
In the home summer, Green showed his incredible ability for a big man to get low in the gully to make some remarkable stops and hang on to some gravity defying catches.
But he couldn’t quite get low enough quickly enough to his left to take the catch which Australia so desperately needed to stop India’s surge.
Patel is once again batting superbly - as he has all series - and surely he must be promoted higher than his current spot at No.8 in future Test matches.
This match he is up to 7 because Shreyas Iyer has been unable to bat due to a back problem.
Patel edged Nathan Lyon to the right of Smith at first slip but he wasn’t able to make it stick.
the ball clipped wicketkeeper Alex Carey’s gloves on the way through making the chance even tougher, and it would have been an amazing reflex catch.
Australia now face the prospect of a very nervous couple of sessions on day five to try and survive and draw the match.
Any hope Australia had of winning and drawing the series is now gone.
7:44PM - 5-472. INDIA SHAPE AS ONLY TEAM THAT CAN WIN FOURTH TEST
Commentators have declared India is now the only team that can win the Test match, with the home side only 8 runs from taking a first-innings lead.
India has a chance to lead by 100 runs by the end of day four, setting up a very nervous final day for Australia.
Fox Cricket expert Mark Waugh believes the flat Ahmedabad track is starting to exhibit up-and-down bounce, with Brad Haddin expecting India to try and set Australia a target of around 160 to try and hold on through two and a half sessions on the last day.
Adding to Australia’s anxiety is Usman Khawaja has not returned to the field after injuring his left knee while fielding.
Losing Khawaja from the top of the order would be a massive blow to Australia’s hopes of holding on for a draw.
Australia has twice this series been bowled out in a session, and although this wicket isn’t anywhere near as treacherous as the decks served up in the previous three Tests, nerves will come into play when the visitors can’t win the match.
Khawaja hobbled off with the physio and would need to return soon to guarantee he can open the batting. If he spends too much time off, he would have to be bumped down the order.
The highlight for Australia on a tough day four, is Nathan Lyon has overtaken Derek Underwood of England to be the highest overseas wicket-taker in India.
Lyon has bowled an extraordinary 58 overs in the fourth Test, testament to his ironman ability.
Overall across his career, Lyon has now taken 55 wickets at an average of 27 in his 11 matches on Indian soil.
That usurps Underwood who took 54 wickets from 16 Tests.
7:06PM - 5-444. KHAWAJA LIMPS OFF IN INJURY DRAMA FOR AUSTRALIA
India is only 36 runs from taking a first-innings lead in the fourth Test, and as Australia confront the possibility of having to survive two or three sessions to save the match ... opening batting star Usman Khawaja has left the field with injury.
Khawaja has limped off after appearing to hurt his left knee attempting to stop a ball from going for six on the boundary rope.
The batsman immediately felt for his knee and a short time later was limping off the ground with the physio.
Khawaja then had to ascend the 96 steps to the dressing rooms at the Ahmedabad stadium.
Australia is yet to give a medical update on the seriousness of the injury concern.
6:15PM - 5-400. KOHLI ENDS 1207-DAY DROUGHT
Indian master Virat Kohli has broken a 1207-day Test century scoring drought, by posting his 28th ton.
‘The King’ was very reserved as he played Nathan Lyon away to bring up the milestone, before pausing for a silent prayer.
It was November 2019 that Kohli last tasted a Test century, and since then he has relinquished the captaincy and watched his Test average drop below 50.
Indian great and his former coach, Ravi Shastri, said a gigantic burden had been removed from one of the greatest of all time.
“Gorilla off his back. He will grow a couple of inches taller by this evening,” Shastri said.
“A long wait. But class is permanent. It’s been a long time, but he’s shown his class in this innings.”
India is trailing by 80 runs.
Australia claimed the wicket of KS Bharat the over before Kohli brought up his ton, out for 44.
Effectively India is six down not five, given batsman Shreyas Iyer has been unable to come out to bat due to a back problem.
Australia needs quick wickets to give themselves a shot at still winning the match.
5:15PM - 4-362. EX-GREATS SAY KUHNEMANN, HEAD UNDERBOWLED BY AUSSIES
India is trying to slowly strangle Australia out of the fourth Test, prompting commentators to inject Travis Head out of the box to try and ruin Virat Kohli’s party.
Kohli is 88 not out and determined on breaking a three-year drought without a Test century.
India is still 118 runs behind, and appear in no hurry to move the game on until they’ve wiped off the first innings deficit.
Australian great Brad Haddin has called on Steve Smith to inject part-time spinner Head into the fray to try and break India’s defensive mindset.
Mark Waugh said on Fox Cricket that Matthew Kuhnemann has also been underbowled on this tour and believes he could be tried.
Kuhnemann has only bowled 19 overs compared to Nathan Lyon (49) and Todd Murphy (32).
Mitchell Starc hasn’t been bowled on day four, with Matthew Hayden saying on commentary that the left-armer should come on, if for no other reason than to create more rough for Lyon.
Haddin warned Australia that a dangerous couple of sessions await them on day five unless they can break up India’s roll.
Australia may face the task of having to survive on the last day with no prospect of victory.
4:o7PM - INDIA 4-324. MURPHY BOWLS THREE STRAIGHT MAIDENS AS PITCH ‘STIRS’
Todd Murphy has bowled three consecutive maidens - two to Indian maestro Virat Kohli - as commentators predict the fourth Test is about to roar to life.
Veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle - the voice of Indian cricket - believes the pitch has finally “stirred to life” after being dormant for three days.
Indian superstar Shreyas Iyer may be unable to bat due to a back problem, meaning India may be effectively five wickets down and vulnerable should Australia be able to take a couple of quick wickets before lunch.
After an hour’s play, India is trailing by 156 on the first innings.
3:41PM - INDIA 4-318. INJURY DRAMA ROCKS INDIA
India has a been rocked early on day four by a Todd Murphy wicket and an injury drama which threatens to weaken their batting line-up for the rest of the match.
Shreyas Iyer has been sent for scans on his back and was unable to come to the crease when Ravi Jadeja fell early to Murphy to give Australia another sniff on a flat wicket in Ahmedabad.
Wicketkeeper KS Bharat has come out to the middle to partner Virat Kohli (69 not out) instead.
If Iyer is unable to bat, it means India is effectively five wickets down and still 162 runs behind.
The draw is the favourite result, but Australia could give themselves an opportunity if they can skittle India in the next two sessions.
India’s plan will be able to bat all day and build enough of a lead that they can throw Australia in to try and survive on day five to draw the game.
Murphy got his second wicket when he lured Jadeja into a loose shot where he attempted to hit the spinner down the ground only to chip him to Usman Khawaja at mid-off.
Kohli is chasing his first Test century in three years.
This pitch, and this match, is stirring to life after a good sleep.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 12, 2023
Another little glimpse of how good Todd Murphy is. He’s just bowled three maidens in a row. Two of them to Kohli on 70no on a road of a pitch, one of them from around the wicket with only two fielders on the offside. Unreal skill for a 22yo off-spinner #INDvAUS
— Louis Cameron (@LouisDBCameron) March 12, 2023
Usman Khawaja has been invaluable for Australia, but the national selectors face a huge call in deciding precisely what he’s worth.
Australian cricket’s annual contract list, to be announced next month, traditionally rewards all-format players with the most eye-watering contracts.
But there is a strong argument to suggest Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne should be breaking into the top five this year, based purely on their prowess at Test level.
It’s a huge call, because to slot them in, selectors would have to drop Josh Hazlewood and David Warner down the list in a year in which both men could yet be decisive in the Ashes and 50-over World Cup.
Last year, Pat Cummins, Warner, Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Steve Smith made up the top five highest-paid contracted cricketers in Australia.
The all-format prowess of those five stars makes them incredibly difficult to shake from the top echelon, but this year at least, selectors have some serious thinking to do.
Ultimately, players will all be given an overall ranking, but first and foremost, selectors need to sit down and determine a rankings list for red and white ball cricket.
First question should be, is Khawaja now the best Test batsman in Australia?
The 36-year-old’s stunning form which has seen him smash six hundreds since being recalled to Test cricket 14 months ago is so compelling it begs the question whether Khawaja has taken over from the world No. 1 Labuschagne and Australian all-time great Smith as our best Test bat.
Test great Matthew Hayden believes Khawaja shapes as the key man on this year’s Ashes tour.
Khawaja may not have much more than 12-24 months left in Test cricket given his age, but on what he has done, and what he is capable of doing for Australia at the Ashes, he at least deserves to earn his biggest ever contract this year.
Labuschagne is also owed an upgrade given his years’ of consistency since breaking out on the last Ashes tour of 2019.
Being the No. 1 Test batsman has to count for something.
And then of course there is Cameron Green. The new all-format prototype who simply has to charge into the million dollar pay bracket off the back of his maiden Test century.
Australia’s top ranked cricketer earns an estimated $2 million, and then there’s a sliding scale where the top seven at least, all earn more than $1 million.
Nathan Lyon was ranked about No. 6 last year and is still the world’s No. 1 spinner.
It would be a brave selection panel to bump down proven champions like Hazlewood and Warner with so much on the line this year.
Unless selectors have already made a decision not to take Warner to England (which there is no evidence of), then he remains an integral part of Australia’s plans this year, particularly given he is still a beast as an ODI batsman in a World Cup year.
Early next year he will also be central to Australia’s T20 World Cup hopes in the West Indies.
Hazlewood has struggled to stay on the park for the past two summers, but if fit, he could be Australia’s key bowler in English conditions.
At ODI level he is ranked higher than Pat Cummins, and he is Australia’s best T20 quick.
The decisions won’t be as tough lower down the rankings list, particularly given there is a feeling Cricket Australia may expand the contract list this year.
That means tearaways like Spencer Johnson and Lance Morris are likely to be rewarded and invested in heavily for the future.
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