Kolkata: India played clinical cricket to thrash hosts West Indies by a massive margin of 105 runs in the second ODI in Port of Spain on Sunday. While there was Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli who dominated with the bat in the first innings, it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravichandran Ashwin and newcomer Kuldeep Yadav who produced some fine bowling to secure the victory.
Kuldeep, playing in his first match, scalped three important wickets conceding 50 runs in nine overs. What makes this performance even more special not the fact that he was playing his first game, but the way in which he came back after he was greeted with a flurry of boundaries early on in his spell.
This spectacular performances has pleased skipper Kohli, who believes that it is difficult to pick his deliveries. “It becomes difficult when he (Kuldeep) bowls the cross-seam deliveries turning both ways. Usually, bowlers bowl the seam-up deliveries turning in, but he can do both with cross seam and that becomes more difficult to pick from the wrist. He is quite amazing with what he does with the ball and I have faced him in the IPL as well. It is not easy to get away when he is bowling, especially (when) the wicket is dry like it was today…credit to him for putting in his first bowling performance in ODIs” Kohli was quoted in the media.
The right-handed stylish batsman has the next World Cup in mind and said that the availability of a wrist-spinner in the team is always a bonus. “A wrist spinner is always a bonus, something that we have identified now in this series. All kinds of options are open, when you talk about the 2019 World Cup. We have 15 players here, we have a pool of 10 or 12 players ready back home who will probably be tested in the next couple of years. (We’ll) see how they react in pressure situations and who is able to make more impact through the middle overs, especially with the ball,” he said.
The first ODI of this series had to be called off due to rain. The fortune of the second game too was going along the same lines when the rain gods decided to have mercy and thus, the match was shortened to 43- overs a side.
However, India dominated both with the bat and ball and never really let the hosts make a comeback. Speaking on this big win, Kohli said, “As a team it is about doing the things that we can do right and execute our skills to the best of our potential.”
He also had words of praise for all the bowlers, despite the fact that they could only take six wickets. Kohli said ,“For the wrist spinner it (the pitch) was doing something, but I think initially it was a bit damp. During the latter half of our innings and their (West Indies) innings to start with, it had dried up nicely. Apart from the wrist spinner, I don’t think the other bowlers were getting too much out of the pitch. Having said that, I think our bowlers bowled really well.”
He also said that Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav need some time to start playing more aggressively. “All depends on guys like Hardik and Kedar, they have not got much game time in the recent past; so the more games they get under the belt, the better,” he said.
Speaking on attacking right from the word go, the Indian skipper said, “It becomes difficult to start going early (attacking early) because if you lose wickets early the equation becomes a little difficult, especially (in the) Champions Trophy (final). Here (in the West Indies), with a little bit of rain around you are always careful about losing those extra couple of wickets. From the Champions Trophy we have taken that learning forward, something that with more experience in the lower-middle order, we will start implementing that.”
The Indian captain also became the second most followed Indian celebrity on Facebook to which he reacted saying, “I have been getting the support from fans since so many years, it is priceless. Keep supporting the team. I was not aware that my likes have gone up. What we are doing and what we are trying to, if people like it then obviously it gives a good feeling.”
1 comment
Bol gay amir ko