NEW DELHI: An outstanding achievement for young Australian pacer Xavier Bartlett was unfortunately tainted by the darker side of social media after he dismissed Indian star Virat Kohli for a duck in the second ODI. Despite the personal significance of the wicket for the 26-year-old, his success was quickly met with a wave of abusive comments from certain fans online.
Online Harassment
Bartlett's social media accounts were immediately targeted with uncalled-for personal attacks and inappropriate comments by a small group of supporters.
The harassment began when the 26-year-old pacer claimed arguably the most significant wicket of his ODI career, trapping Virat Kohli leg-before for a four-ball duck in the second ODI in Adelaide. This marked Kohli's second consecutive scoreless innings in the series, a highly rare event for the legendary batsman.
Bartlett's Pivotal Performance
Bartlett's contribution was pivotal to the host team’s performance. He bowled intelligently, setting up Kohli with outswingers before delivering the sharp, incoming ball for the dismissal. Bartlett's double strike in one over, having just dismissed Shubman Gill, applied significant pressure early in the Indian innings.
Ultimately, Bartlett's early breakthroughs laid the foundation for Australia's victory. Although the rest of the Indian side fought hard, anchored by Rohit Sharma's 73 and Shreyas Iyer's 61 to post a competitive total of 264/9, Australia secured a tense two-wicket victory to seal the three-match series.
