Talismanic India batter Virat Kohli was brutally trolled on social media after he got out for a duck in the 2023 Cricket World Cup fixture against England in Lucknow on Sunday.

 

Virat Kohli, among the top scorers in the current edition of the World Cup, failed to absorb the pressure and lost his wicket while trying to smash England pacer David Willey over the top. 

 

His dismissal came after he could not open his account on the first eight deliveries of his knock and fell on the ninth after he attempted an aerial shot off David Willey.

 

It was Virat Kohli's 34th duck in international cricket, taking his tally at par with Sachin Tendulkar, to join the legendary cricketer on top of the list of Indians with the most zeros across formats.

 

With Virat Kohli falling prey to David Willey for naught, he was brutally trolled on X, previously Twitter. 

 

Team India never recovered from a series of early blows, including the wicket of Virat Kohli, managing only 229/9 on the board.

 

Even a score of 229 looked improbable at one point, but thanks to Rohit Sharma's 87 and Suryakumar Yadav's 49, India managed to put up a respectable total on the scoreboard.

 

In reply, Jos Buttler and his boys were never in the hunt, with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami putting up an exhibition of world-class fast bowling as England were bowled out for 129, handing India a 100-run victory.

 

The two veteran Indian pacers picked up three and four wickets each to ensure the Men in Blue remained unbeaten in the quadrennial event.

 

It was India's sixth consecutive victory in the 2023 Cricket World Cup, nearly sealing their spot in the semifinals.

 

After the match, India skipper Rohit Sharma acknowledged that the Lucknow wicket was difficult to bat.

 

“After the first 10 overs, it was important to stitch a partnership. You have to play the situation as well and not just play your shots. If you have that experience, you should use it. But I still thought we were 20-30 runs short. The new ball was a bit challenging and as the game went on, the ball got softer and it was not easy to rotate strike,” Rohit Sharma said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

 

“I think this was a game where we showed a lot of character. All the experienced players stood up at the right time and won us the game. Looking at how the tournament has gone for us, batting second in the first five games and then we had to bat first here, we were challenged,” he added. 

 

“We knew the pitch had something in it and we had the experience in our bowling, so we wanted to get to a decent total. We were not great with the bat, losing three wickets in the first powerplay isn't the ideal situation. You have to then create a long partnership, which we did. But then we just lost wickets, including mine. Looking at the overall picture, I thought we were 30 runs short,” the 36-year-old explained. 

 

“You don't see that every day when you are defending such a total. Our seamers exploited the conditions very well, there was swing and lateral movement available. I think so, we have got a good balance there. A couple of good spinners and seamers bringing in their experience. When you have a bowling line-up like that, it's important that the batters give them something to work with, and show their magic,” Rohit Sharma stated.

 

Meanwhile, England captain Jos Buttler expressed his disappointment about his side's poor batting.

“Very disappointed. At the halfway stage, chasing 230, we would have fancied ourselves. Same old story. Very disappointed. I wasn't sure about the dew, the gut feeling said we should chase. I think whichever way you want to go, you have to be committed. It's all about execution. It is,” Jos Buttler pointed out. 

 

“The answer is on a postcard, I think. It was a great start in the powerplay by the bowlers, the guys found some movement. The ground fielding was good. But the way we batted, we didn't back that up,” he summed up.