ADELAIDE – Under lights at Adelaide Oval, Xavier Bartlett produced the ball of his young career and floored a giant. The 26-year-old fast bowler trapped Virat Kohli lbw for a four-ball duck in the second ODI, helping Australia scrape home by two wickets and wrap up the series 2-0.
What should have been a golden night turned sour within hours, as waves of abuse from sections of Kohli’s fanbase swarmed his social feeds and turned a proud moment into a grim lesson about online pile-ons.
India chose to bat on a surface offering a hint of seam. Shubman Gill, still feeling his way as ODI captain, lasted nine balls before gifting Mitchell Marsh a catch at mid-off from Bartlett’s first ball of the seventh over.
Kohli followed at No. 3, carrying 14,181 ODI runs and 51 hundreds, and walking on to a ground where he had stacked up 975 runs at an average of 65 across formats. Adelaide has served him well in the past, yet this time it became the setting for a shock.
Xavier Bartlett, recalled for his fifth ODI with Nathan Ellis rested, stuck to a clear plan. Speaking on the broadcast, he explained that the talk in the dressing room was to start wide of off stump and make Kohli play. Three outswingers went as scripted.
Then he went full, got the ball to nip back from outside off, and pinned Kohli in front. Umpire Sam Nogajski raised the finger once. Kohli glanced towards Gill, decided against a review, and ball-tracking showed three reds, smashing middle.
A hush followed, broken by a few boos from the Indian sections of the crowd. Kohli lifted a gloved hand to the stands as he walked off, a gesture that set off whispers about retirement. It was his second duck in as many innings, a first across his 304 ODI matches.
India staggered to 9 for 264, with Rohit Sharma grinding out a valuable 73. Australia chased it down thanks to Matthew Short’s 74 and an unbeaten 61 from Cooper Connolly, closing it out despite late nerves. Bartlett’s figures read 3 for 39, a tidy return with a headline scalp attached.
Fox Cricket’s Matthew Hayden called it smart new-ball bowling, praising Bartlett for teasing outside off, then attacking the stumps once Kohli held the crease. In his words, it was the control of a bowler who knows his method and trusts it.
Xavier Bartlett Gets a Social Media Pile-on
For his teammates, Bartlett’s night felt like pure joy. Adam Zampa, who took 4 for 60, lauded him in the huddle. Marsh, the captain, applauded his composure under pressure and said Kohli’s wicket swung the contest.
The mood online was very different. By midnight, Xavier Bartlett’s Instagram, a modest mix of training clips and beach runs for an audience of roughly 45,000, was flooded with hostile comments. Screenshots spread on X (formerly Twitter), showing insults in English and Hindi, some laced with threats and racist barbs.
A number of posts wished injury upon him or mocked personal matters, including a reference to his late father.
By Friday morning, the fury had spilled across platforms. Hashtags such as #BoycottBartlett and #ProtectVirat trended in Mumbai and Delhi. One viral post said fans were treating a game like a battlefield and painted Bartlett as a traitor for doing his job.
Indian outlets, including Hindustan Times and Zee News, ran pieces on toxic fandom while casting the Australian quick as the man who embarrassed a national icon.
This pattern is not new. The backlash to Hardik Pandya’s captaincy in 2024 and the abuse aimed at Lucknow Super Giants players in the 2023 IPL linger in recent memory. Kohli’s enormous reach, with 400 million followers on Instagram, magnifies both praise and anger.
Cricket Australia issued a short statement condemning online harassment and described Bartlett as a grounded professional focused on cricket. His agency said he was aware of the messages and unfazed, and he has kept quiet in public.
What the Numbers and Narratives Say
Kohli’s rare double duck, the 40th international zero of his career and behind only Zaheer Khan’s 43, has already prompted debates in India. He is 37 in this narrative, returning from a break and a lighter IPL load, and a section of fans fears the fire may be fading. Rohit Sharma tried to cool the noise by stressing that form comes and goes and that Kohli has given everything for India.
For Xavier Bartlett, the blowback has come fast. He has moved from domestic prospect to international difference-maker in a handful of weeks, then found his personal pages turned into targets. It is the modern cost of a big moment, and it is far too high.
The match itself offered a clear cricket lesson. Bartlett’s discipline with the new ball, Zampa’s knack in the middle overs, and calm finishing from Connolly showed Australia’s growing depth.
On the Indian side, Rohit’s fight held things together, but early wickets and a hesitant start left them short of a par score. The tactical call to leave a review unused for Kohli’s lbw will be debated, though the technology suggested it would not have saved him.
Sport, Fandom, and the Line That Gets Crossed
Cricket brings people together, then social media tears at that fabric when emotion peaks. It is fair for supporters to feel gutted when their hero falls. It is not fair to target a player’s family, use racist language, or issue threats. There is no grey area here.
Players talk about switching off their phones and leaning on team support. That is sensible, but it places the burden on victims rather than fixing the behaviour. Platforms need better tools, and boards should add clear reporting and support pathways. The responsibility also sits with fan groups and influencers who can calm tempers, add context, and remind people that the line between passion and abuse is bright and easy to see.
Can Kohli rebound in Canberra on Sunday? He has built a career on answering hard days with harder runs. Can Bartlett park the noise and bowl his length again? His calm at Adelaide suggests he can. The pitch will settle the cricket. The rest is down to people who can choose to support without crossing the line.
For now, a kid from the Gold Coast beat a legend with skill, then opened his phone to find a storm. The wicket will be replayed for years. The messages should never have been sent.
