On Day 1 of first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test match, Australian fielders stole all the limelight with Pat Cummins affecting a stunning run-out and Usman Khawaja plucking an unbelievable catch at Adelaide.
Footages from both the efforts went viral. In fact, the all-rounder's dismissal of India's top scorer Cheteshwar Pujara has caught the attention of Major League Baseball (MLB) in America, a place where cricket is still an alien sport.
The MLB official website ran a story, asking baseball teams to sign Cummins. And the header reads: “This cricket play was so insane an MLB team should sign this guy right now”.
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That's like suggesting English Premier League asking teams to sign Virat Kohli, to play football.
Relive the moment:
Then, Khawaja's catch to dismiss Kohli, arguably the best batsman in the world today, was special.
Batting great and one of the finest fielders the sport has ever seen, Ricky Ponting hailed the effort as "a great catch because of how much he's moved to his weak side."
"But when you add on the fact that it's Virat Kohli in the first innings of the first Test of the summer, that makes it an even better catch," Ponting said.
Here's how it happened, watch:
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Interestingly, as reported by news.com.au, the catch was one of the ESPN Sportscenter's Top 10 plays of the day.
It reported that the American host described Kohli’s shot as a “line drive” and was amazed the match was scheduled to last for five days. “Great play,” he said. “Five-day match, it’s going to end on December 10 (US time)!”
At the end of Day 2, India were still leading Australia by 59 runs.
India captain Kohli won the toss on Thursday and opted to bat first. India, thanks to Pujara's maiden ton Down Under, managed 250.
In reply, Aussies were 191/7 at the close of Day 2 with Travis Head unbeaten on 61.
