Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar has come to the defense of Virat Kohli after the Indian star fell for a single-digit score on Day 1 of the pink-ball Test against Australia at the Adelaide Oval.

Kohli was undone by a rising delivery from Mitchell Starc outside off stump, mirroring his first innings dismissal from the Perth Test.

This mode of dismissal has led to experts and former cricketers questioning his adaptability. Ex-India batter Sanjay Manjrekar also attributed Kohli’s declining Test average to reluctance to adjust his technique.

However, Gavaskar dismissed such concerns, citing Virat Kohli’s track record and his rich experience.

"The man has got more than 9000 Test runs batting with the same technique. He has got out twice, so what? He has 30 hundreds. He knows how to bat," Gavaskar said on JioCinema after the first day’s play in Adelaide.

He added, "It is so that you can't bring it down in time to let the ball harmlessly pass. But the man wasn’t lucky in Perth or this time around. There's plenty of time left in this series."

Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden shared his perspective on Kohli’s contrasting approaches in the second innings of Perth Test and the first innings of Adelaide Test.

"In Perth, he was decisive in his movements and played the ball down the ground. Here in Adelaide, he stayed off-side of the ball. On tricky pitches, getting close to the ball is key," Hayden remarked.

Virat Kohli returned with a brilliant hundred (100) in the second innings of Perth Test. That was his 30th ton in Test cricket and his second consecutive at the Optus Stadium.

With that knock, Kohli also surpassed Sachin Tendulkar to become the Indian batter with most Test centuries on Australian soil, tallying seven.