Undoubtedly one of the most skilled batsman at the moment in international cricket, Virat Kohli in his career so far has been known for only his batting. But, the batting superstar and the current captain of the Indian team in all the formats back in the day did occasionally roll over the hand and bowl some overs.
Especially in One Day International Cricket, MS Dhoni did hand over the ball to Kohli when he thought that he could get a wicket and Kohli on some occasions rose up to the occasion and got MS and his team the wickets that were needed.
Virat Kohli at the moment does not bowl much but has 4 wickets to his name, and here we will have a look at the names of those batsmen who were dismissed on the deliveries bowled by Virat.
1. Sir Alastair Cook (16 Sep 2011, Cardiff)
The very first wicket that the Indian captain took while bowling in One Day International cricket was that of Sir Alastair Cook. In the match, played at the Cardiff Oval in England, Virat made a mark with his batting the first inning where he scored 107 runs off 93 deliveries, helping the Indian team to get to a total of 304 runs.
When the Indian team’s turn came to bowl, the captain of the side, MS Dhoni handed the ball over to Kohli, to get a breakthrough, and the youngster did not disappoint, as he earned the team the crucial wicket of Sir Alastair Cook who was on the score of 50 runs.
Virat’s delivery crashed on to Cook’s stumps and the ace English batsman was declared out bowled. Even England won the game after the D/L method came in due to weather disturbances, the game was one to remember for Kohli.
2. Craig Kieswetter (20 Oct 2011, Mohali)
After the Indian team toured England earlier, the Englishmen came down to India to play, and it was in that tour that Virat Kohli got, what would be the second wicket of his bowling career. And, this time on the receiving end of things was England’s then wicketkeeper, Craig Kieswetter. To add to the joy, the Indian team went on to win the game.
The England cricket team batted first and set a score of 299 runs for India to chase down. It was during that inning that Kohli dismissed Kieswetter.
The opener had put on 36 runs for his team, before once again, Kohli bowled a delivery that took Kiewswetter’s bat’s inside edge and went into the stumps as he was adjudged out. Thanks to match-winning contributions from the entire batting order of the Indian team, as stated earlier, India went on to win the match, by a 5 wicket margin.
3. Quinton de Kock (05 Dec 2013, Johannesburg)
Ending his yearlong dry run with the ball, Virat Kohli again struck with the ball during a match which was a part of India’s tour to South Africa in the year 2013. This wicket of Kohli was a big one and came at a time when the batsman was in full flow and was scoring runs at a brisk rate.
In that match, the South Africans who were playing in their backyard smashed the Indian bowlers thoroughly and as a last resort, in the 42nd over of the game, the captain of the team, MS Dhoni, handed over the bowling duty to Kohli, who took the wicket of Quinton de Kock.
Having been smashed for a big six on the previous delivery, Kohli changed this delivery and opted for a slower ball which was played right back into his hands, by de Kock and Kohli made no mistake. Quinton de Kock was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 135 runs. The Proteas went on to win the match by 141 runs.
4. Bredon McCullum (31 Jan 2014, Wellington)
When we look at the wickets that Kohli took, it has all been the players who are counted in as the legends of the game, showing that apart from his exceptional batting skills, Kohli did have some bowling capabilities. What eventually turned out to be his last wicket, so far of his ODI bowling career, Virat sent back Brendon McCullum to the pavilion.
At the time Kohli was put on to bowl, the match had seen 43 overs being bowled, and New Zealand, who were batting first, wanted to accelerate their scoring rate. And, in the process, Brendon McCullum decided to target the novice bowler that Kohli was and smashed the 5th delivery of the over, but to his dismay, it landed into the hands of the fielder at covers, who happened to be Rohit Sharma.
McCullum had wanted to hit the ball on the on-side, but a miscue led the ball to go on to the offside, into Sharma’s hands who was standing at the edge of the 30-yard circle. The Indian team in their batting inning saw Virat Kohli top-scoring with 82 runs, but that was not enough for the team as they lost the game by a massive 87 run margin.
