Top News

Virat Kohli, known as the modern-day “King of the Cricket Field,” has amassed countless historic records in his illustrious career. But are you aware of one such unique record that leaves everyone astonished? Yes, Virat Kohli holds a record in international cricket that few would have imagined. He took his first wicket in his career without bowling a single ball. Behind this amusing and interesting incident lay a clever and strategic insight of former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a fact that few people know about even today.

When Dhoni’s cleverness led to success without bowling

This amusing incident occurred during a T20 match against England in 2011. During the match, such a peculiar situation arose that captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni decided to make a bowling change that has gone down in history. At that time, England’s dangerous batsman, Kevin Pietersen, was batting at the crease and was playing his shots freely against the Indian bowlers. As a strategy to deceive the batsman, Dhoni decided to hand the ball to Virat Kohli during his spin bowling, but the real game began after that.

Who became this unique victim of Virat Kohli?

Just before Virat Kohli came forward to bowl and completed his run-up for his first delivery, batsman Kevin Pietersen did something that turned the entire match upside down. Instead of playing a shot, Pietersen attempted an awkward shot at the crease, resulting in a stumping situation or a wide/leg side decision (or technically, a wicket was declared on the leg side as per the umpire’s decision). According to the rules of cricket, Virat Kohli’s wicket was taken without either releasing the ball or bowling a legal delivery, and Kevin Pietersen became his first victim of his international career. This strange and unique wicket is still fondly remembered by cricket fans.