The 2011-12 India tour of Australia was not a great one for the Indian team, where they lost the Test series in an one-sided manner and also could not even reach the final of the tri-series between Australia, India and Sri Lanka. However, Indian batter Virat Kohli’s knock in Hobart against Sri Lanka is still fresh in cricket fans’ memory.
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It was on this day in 2012 that Kohli played that amazing knock. Hobart’s Blundstone Arena was hosting the ODI match between India and Sri Lanka, and the Indian team had to win that match by a bonus point in order to stay alive in the tri-series. Sri Lanka batted first and posted a total of 320/4, where Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan scored their respective centuries.
India needed to win the match in 40 overs in order to stay in the tournament. Virender Sehwag gave the team a blistering start, but he could not last long. The Indian team lost their initial two wickets for 86 runs, and then Kohli stitched a brilliant partnership of 115 runs with Indian batter Gautam Gambhir.
The innings that Kohli played was one of his best, Sri Lanka’s bowler Lasith Malinga was at his prime during that time, but the way Kohli smashed him was a delight to watch. He thrashed the bowlers all over the park and scored 133* runs in just 86 balls with the help of 16 fours and 2 sixes. India won the match in just 36.4 overs and kept their hopes in the series.
Virat Kohli Hobart masterclass had enticed hilarious suggestion from Yuvraj Singh
Former Indian all-rounder Yuvraj Singh also praised the knock of Kohli in Adelaide and posted a hilarious Tweet about the same. It is known that Kohli’s nickname is ‘Cheeku’, so Singh asked him to have a ‘Cheeku (fruit) shake’ for recovery after that great innings. However, the efforts of Kohli went in vain as Australia could not defeat Sri Lanka in the last league match, and India got knocked out.
“Chekoo kohli great inings ! Have a cheekoo shake for recovery before sleeping! Goodnight Virat Kohli,” Yuvraj Singh had Tweeted in 2012.
Kohli and Singh shared a great bond together, and they were part of the 2011 World Cup and 2017 Champions Trophy squads. Both of them love Punjabi music and have been seen grooving together on the songs as well.
Virat Kohli performance in 2011-12 India tour of Australia
The tour started with a 4-match Test series, and Kohli could not deliver in the initial two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney. Even Kohli admitted that he was afraid of getting dropped from the team as players like Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane were waiting for their opportunities.
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However, Kohli proved his class in the third Test in Perth on a very difficult batting track. The whole Indian team struggled in that match, but Kohli scored 44 runs in the first innings and 75 runs in the 2nd innings. In the fourth and last Test in Adelaide, Kohli scored his first Test century.
Former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly also said that he wanted Kohli to score a century in the Perth Test. Kohli was the 3rd highest run-scorer of the Test series where he scored 300 runs with the help of one century and one half-century. In the tri-series, he scored 373 runs at 53.28 with the help of one century and two half-centuries.
