IND vs ENG 1st T20I: Jofra Archer on Virat Kohli’s 2nd Consecutive Duck vs England, Says India Captain Wicket Early in Innings is a Bonus

Kohli, who walked in to bat in the 2nd over of the 1st T20I in Ahmedabad on Friday, registered his first-ever consecutive duck in international cricket

India captain Virat Kohli once again failed to conjure up something substantial during the first T20I between India and England at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. Kohli, who came in to bat in the second over of the 1st T20I, registered his first-ever consecutive duck in international cricket. Courtesy Kohli’s wicket, India never get going their first innings and didn’t manage to post a fighting total in the first T20I against England. The visitors won the match by 8 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series. England pacer Jofra Archer reacted to India captain’s poor vein of form and said that dismissing the ‘dangerous batsman’ early on so many occasions has been a ‘real bonus’ for his team.

England spinner Adil Rashid dismissed Kohli after Chris Jordan took a good catch at mid-off. “I love to see it when a plan comes off. Rash is a world-class bowler and he can bowl anywhere,” Archer said in the post-match press conference.

“Kohli is obviously a dangerous batter and to see the back of him early so many times is a real bonus. I think it probably might have dampened their camp a little bit,” he added.

The 25-year-old Archer England’s wrecker-in-chief with the ball and emerged as the star performers in the first T20I. He dismissed the likes of KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur.

Returning from an elbow injury, Archer led England’s bowling attack with 3/23 runs as they restricted India to 124 for 7 in 20 overs after skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bowl first.

“I was excited to bowl first because there was a bit of dew when we trained the other night …. getting on top of the conditions gave us a little bit of an advantage. It was a very good team performance on a slow wicket,” Archer told reporters.

Bowling first on the two-paced Motera track, England exploited the conditions early to beat India by eight wickets in the series-opening T20I.

The series is seen as a build-up to the T20 World Cup slated in India later this year but Archer said they are not looking too far ahead.

“It’s just the first game of the series. We still have four games to go. They are number two in the world for a reason,” he said.

The second T20I between India and England is slated to be played in Ahmedabad on Sunday.