Virat Kohli's Persuasion Leads Bumrah to Opt for DRS, Securing India's First Breakthrough Against Australia: 'Take the Chance'

Virat Kohli's persuasive skills came to the fore as he managed to convince skipper Jasprit Bumrah to take the review. As luck would have it, India got their first breakthrough against Australia on Day 1 of the first Test at the Optus Stadium in Perth. Unfortunately, it was not a memorable debut for opening batter Nathan McSweeney, who was dismissed for just 10 runs. The breakthrough came when Bumrah bowled a full delivery that nipped back into the right-handed batsman, leading to his eventual dismissal.

McSweeney looked to defend the ball, however, the angle cut back in, and he was hit straight onto the pads. The on-field official did not give McSweeney out and it was after Kohli's convincing, that Bumrah decided to take the review.

On the stump mic, Bumrah was first heard saying, "Close hai. (It's close)." However, the stand-in India captain wasn't sure whether he should go for a review in just the third over of the innings. However, it was then that Kohli barged right in, and convinced the pacer to go for the DRS.

“Pad pe lagi hai pehle, lele lele. (It has hit the pad first, take it take it),” Kohli told Bumrah.

The 30-year-old then went up for the review in the nick of time, and the replays vindicated Kohli, showing that McSweeney is indeed out.

Jasprit Bumrah also could have had Marnus Labuschagne in the same over, however, Virat Kohli ended up dropping the catch. However, Kohli made up for his mistake soon after, as he safely pouched another catch to send the other opening batter Usman Khawaja back to the hut.

In the same over, Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Steve Smith for a duck.

Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and opted to bat first in the first Test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, the batters failed to stick up a challenge in front of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Marsh.

The four pacers took ten wickets among themselves to bundle out India for a below par total of 150.

Nitish Kumar Reddy was the top-scorer for India as he played a knock of 41. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant also chipped in with 37.

The likes of Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal, all disappointed with the bat. KL Rahul looked good for his 26 runs in the middle, however, he walked back after a controversial call by the third umpire Richard Illingworth.