Bumrah scripts rare World Cup history with opening wicket vs Australia; Kohli pips legendary Kumble with sharp catch

With Australia reeling at 5/1 in 2.2 overs, India's World Cup 2023 opener got off to a great start when opener Mitchell Marsh was removed for a six-ball duck by Jasprit Bumrah. This is a historic wicket since it's the first time in the history of the ODI World Cup that India has dismissed an Australian opener for a duck.

Australia's Mitchell Marsh is removed from the game by India's Jasprit Bumrah.In PTITo move, click and drag. Australia's Mitchell Marsh is removed from the game by India's Jasprit Bumrah.In PTI

Bumrah started the bowling and smashed off stump with a good-length delivery in his second over. Marsh chose to defend, yet he gained a significant advantage. Subsequently, Bumrah produced a fantastic short-range delivery, outside off with additional bounce, after one slip at midwicket. Marsh attempted to block the ball with his bat, but it struck the outside edge and ended up in Virat Kohli's clutches at slips. The former captain of India dove to his left and used both hands to complete the catch. The Indian pacer was ecstatic to have taken what turned out to be a significant wicket after exacting the ideal retaliation. Marsh took revenge after hammering Bumrah for 39 runs off 20 balls at a strike-rate of 195 during the Rajkot ODI.

With this, Kohli surpassed Anil Kumble (14), Kapil Dev (12), and Sachin Tendulkar (12) to record the most catches for India in the history of the ODI World Cup (by a non-wicketkeeper), at 15. Kohli was observed going above and above on Saturday, both with the bat and in his catching. Following hitting net sessions, Kohli participated in catching and fielding drills for over sixty minutes. Although Kohli is one of the most reliable fielders in India, he has recently been found to have dropped a few easy catches, most notably in the Asia Cup against Nepal. Kohli made no mistakes of that kind today, making sure he has his catching skills under control.

Pat Cummins, the captain of Australia, initially chose to bat after winning the toss. In defence of his choice, Cummins stated that the pitch appeared to be in good condition and that the afternoon would be ideal for batting because of the presence of the sun. Shubman Gill has been replaced by Ishan Kishan, according to India captain Rohit Sharma, after the opener was unable to recover in time.

"The conditions are there for the bowlers and the ball will turn as the game goes on; you need to understand what line and lengths to bowl and adjust accordingly," he stated in reference to the playing conditions. Before the warm-up games, we had played a lot of cricket, two strong series, and we had covered all the basics."

At 36 years and 161 days, Rohit Sharma becomes the oldest skipper of India in a World Cup match with this victory. He is ahead of Rahul Dravid (34 years and 71 days in 2007) and Mohammed Azharuddin (36 years and 124 days in 1999).