'Thankfully, Rahane ran Kohli out. It was brilliant': Tim Paine recalls AUS vs IND series

Former Australian captain Tim Paine has opened up on Virat Kohli's run-out in the first Test match during India's 2020-21 tour of Australia. Kohli was in only for the first Test match of the series as he was due to travel back to India for the birth of his child. The former Indian skipper played an impressive knock of 74 runs in the first innings of the Adelaide Test and was looking good to reach yet another century in the longest format of the game. However, Kohli became a victim of an unfortunate run-out involving his deputy Ajinkya Rahane.

'It was brilliant,' recalls Paine

Paine stated that he was worried because Kohli appeared set on the crease and did not look to be getting out any time soon. After Kohli went through the first part of the night, Paine recalls thinking that his team was in serious trouble. Rahane, too, appeared to be firmly set in the middle, as it appeared that he and Kohli were on the verge of forming a formidable partnership. Thankfully for Paine, Rahane ran Kohli out after a miscommunication, providing Australia a much-needed wicket.

"Yeah, I must admit though when he was batting... he was on 20-30. Then the lights came on, and I was like 'Wow, He did not look like getting out', did he? And I was like we are in some serious trouble here. I do remember for about 15 minutes, I was like 'Oh Christ! Yeah, when he got through that first period of the night, I thought 'Oh trouble'. Rahane looked just as good too there for a little while," Paine said in the docu-series.

"They were batting beautifully and then, thankfully, Rahane ran him out. It was brilliant. Particularly, when you feel so out of the game, we couldn't create a chance and they were batting so well, to then be literally just gifted one, and a really simple one, of their best player who was making it look pretty easy, in a difficult condition for a new batter to come in against the pink ball under lights, it's a hard place to start your innings, that was a huge shift in the game. They were not far off taking that first Test completely away from us," he added.

Mitchell Starc dismissed Rahane for 42 off 92 balls, just moments after Kohli was run-out. Following the incident, India's batting order crumbled, and they were bowled out for 244 runs. Kohli and his team, on the other hand, were able to mount a powerful comeback, dismissing Australia for just 191 runs and taking a 53-run advantage into the second innings. India's second innings, however, saw one of the worst collapses in cricket history, with the team being reduced to 36 runs, their lowest-ever Test score.

Australia had a target of only 90 runs in the final innings, which they chased down with ease in just 24 overs. Australia won the game by 8 wickets taking an early lead in the four-match series. Kohli left Australia after the first Test and Rahane took over as the captain of the side. India made an impressive comeback in the series by winning the second Test and drawing the third in Sydney. India went on to create history by winning the fourth and final Test in Gabba, taking the Border-Gavaskar trophy home for the second consecutive year. 

Image: cricket.com.au/AP