Australian teenager Aaron Hardie snared the wicket of India captain Virat Kohli on Thursday, his latest high-profile victim after dismissing England skipper Joe Root in a similar warm-up match last year.
The 19-year-old paceman had Kohli caught and bowled for 64 as the tourists prepared for next week’s opening Test by scoring 358 all out against a Cricket Australia XI on day two of the four-day match.
Incidentally, Hardie has not played First Class cricket as yet, and this wicket won’t be counted on his record as the tour game has not got FC status either.
Kohli had smashed seven fours and a six against an inexperienced attack before English-born Hardie dismissed him, nonchalantly tossing the ball in the air in celebration.
Hardie, who ended with 4-50 off 13 overs, is one of Western Australia’s most exciting prospects, having captained the state at under-17 and under-19 level, and earned a rookie contract for 2018-19.
Hardie is an all-rounder who was born in Bournemouth in England but started playing cricket in Perth. He was also named in WA’s extended Sheffield Shield squad for round three, after scoring a hundred in the Futures League against an attack that had Test bowlers Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins. However, he didn’t make their final XI, according to Cricket.com.au.
Earlier this year, Hardie had almost replaced injured fast bowler Jason Ralston in Australia’s Under-19 World Cup squad, but could not take part as he suffered an injury himself. But Hardie suffered an injury himself and didn’t take part in the final.
With AFP inputs
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