Star batter Virat Kohli rolled his arm during the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 match against Bangladesh on Thursday after Hardik Pandya hurt his ankle and limped off the field at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.
India received a blow in the ninth over when Hardik seemed to have twisted his ankle while trying to stop a shot from Litton Das with his right leg but ended up slipping in the process.
The 30-year-old Hardik, who landed awkwardly on his left leg, got up and tried walking but fell back to the ground as physio had to rush to the field. With Hardik in visible pain, he was advised to walk off the field and India captain Rohit Sharma asked Kohli to bowl the remainder of the over.
The former India captain bowled the remaining three deliveries, conceding two runs. Notably, this was the first time in six years that Kohli has bowled in a One-Day International. Virat last bowled a delivery in ODIs against Sri Lanka on August 31, 2017, conceding 12 runs in two overs.
Overall, the 35-year-old Kohli has taken eight wickets across formats in the 161.5 overs in international cricket.
Earlier, Regular skipper Shakib Al Hasan missed out due to an injury as Bangladesh won the toss and opted to bat first at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium. Najmul Hossain Shanto is leading Bangladesh in absence of Shakib and Nasum Ahmed has replaced the star all-rounder for this game.
After a careful start, Bangladesh openers Litton Das and Tanzid Tamim picked up the pace and took their team to 63 in the powerplay.
India regrouped after the 10 over mark as spinners stemmed the flow of runs and provided crucial breakthroughs. Kuldeep Yadav struck first to trap Tanzid lbw in the 15th over. It was Ravindra Jadeja’s turn to provide the next blow, and he got skipper Najmul leg before in the 20th over.
Skipper Rohit brought back the pacer Siraj soon after Mehidy Hasan Miraz came to the strike and the pacer didn’t take long to send the batter back to the pavilion. Mehidy fell to a brilliant catch from KL Rahul in the 25th over.
Thereafter, a well-set Litton Das wanted to take on Jadeja but he mistimed it and was caught in the deep, leaving Bangladesh in trouble at 137/4.
Playing XIs of both teams:
Bangladesh: Litton Das, Tanzid Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Towhid Hridoy, Mushfiqur Rahim(w), Mahmudullah, Nasum Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Shoriful Islam
India: Rohit Sharma(c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
