PERTH – India expects captain Virat Kohli to continue to lead from thefront after he guided their fightback on day two of the second Test againstAustralia at Perth on Saturday.
At stumps, the visitors had overcome a terrible start and were 172 forthree, still trailing the Australian first innings total of 326 by 154 runswith seven wickets in hand.
The imperious Kohli was unbeaten on 82 and shaping as the major stumblingblock for Australia, with Ajinkya Rahane also in fine form on 51, the pairhaving added 90 for the third wicket.
Paceman Ishant Sharma, who claimed four first innings wickets and willstart the Australian second innings on a hat-trick, said the game was stillevenly poised.
However, he believe Kohli is their trump card heading into day three.
“We feel pretty confident whenever he is batting,” he said of Kohli. “Wefinished the day in a strong position.
Read Top Stories
“It’s equal right now, hopefully we’ll win the first session tomorrow andturn the game in our favour.”
Australian batsman Usman Khawaja admitted Kohli was the prized wicket, butbelieved his team still held the upper hand. “We’re still ahead of the gamein a lot of respects,” Khawaja said.
“Virat’s a good batsman, he respects good balls and tries to put away badones. “It took them 70 overs to get 170, so I still think one or twowickets hopefully in the first session on Sunday will be pretty big forus.” – APP/AFP
