Josh Hazlewood says Mitchell Marsh dropping Virat Kohli didn’t play significant role in defeat

Virat Kohli was dropped on 12 my Mitchell Marsh off Josh Hazlewood's bowling.

October 9, 2023 11:52 AM IST

3 min read

Australia's Mitchell Marsh drops a catch. (Reuters)

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Australia pacer Josh Hazlewood defended Mitchell Marsh, who dropped Virat Kohli on his bowling and said the dropped catch didn’t played any significant role in the six-wicket loss against India in Chennai.

Virat Kohli was dropped on 12 by off Hazlewood’s bowling after Marsh made ample ground from the mid-wicket region, even as wicketkeeper Alex Carey also ran in, leading to confusion.

“No, I don’t think so (it played a role), it was quite early obviously when that catch was dropped,” Hazlewood said at the post-match press conference.

“I didn’t think Carey could get there. I think it was Mitch’s catch and probably just Carey got quite close in the end so it might have just put Mitch off.

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“Yeah, he dropped a catch, it’s one of those things that happens and everyone’s training hard and working hard off the field to hang on to them. So, yeah, we’ll continue on.”

Chasing on 199, India lost three wickets for just two runs in the first two overs with Hazlewood picking two. If Marsh had held on to the catch, India would have found themselves in bigger trouble at 20 for four.

Thereafter, Kohli forged a 165-run stand with KL Rahul for the fourth wicket and steered India closer to the victory.

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Hazlewood was all praise for the Indian bowlers, especially left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who took two wickets, including that of David Warner when the batter was looking good for a big one.

“Yeah, I think he’s (Kuldeep) obviously done really well over the last 12 or 18 months. He’s always been a good player.

“We’ve found him tough to play against. Not often you come up against a left-arm leg spinner with great variations, so it’s sort of something that’s hard to practice against.

“And yeah, he’s always been a good player to play against, so I think in general the three spinners bowled really well. They’re all a little bit different obviously, but they know the conditions really well and bowled accordingly.”

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Australia take on South Africa in Lucknow, while India will play Afghanistan in New Delhi.

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