Virat Kohli defends Dhoni after rare failure in 2nd India-England ODI

Virat Kohli carried himself like a true leader as he defended veteran keeper-batsman Dhoni after rare failure in 2nd India-England ODI.

India suffered a 86-run lost against England in the 2nd ODI at Lord’s but Kohli talked of taking the defeat on the chin and moving on.

“I think we started off well with the bat, it was a really good wicket to play on throughout the course of the game. Did slow up in the second half but when we lost wickets early, that’s where we lost it hurt us a bit. You need wickets in hand during such chases, so when you lose early wickets, it’s tough to recover. Wicket got slower but credit to their bowlers for executing their plans. These are games where you test the character of the guys.

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Siddarth is new and Umesh is coming back after a while. We expect them to do the job, obviously Bumrah and Bhuvi have done it for long but it’s nice to test the character of the guys. Important for the guys to bounce back. Crucial to back the guys ahead.,” he said at the post match presentation.”

When he was asked about Dhoni’s innings, Kohli defended his former Captain. He said that it was not just a bad day for Dhoni but the entire Indian team.

“This thing comes up whenever he (Dhoni) isn’t able to play the way he wants. People just wait to jump on him. When it works, they call him the best finisher and if it doesn’t, they jump on him. Today was a bad day for all of us, not just him.

He is experienced and the idea was to take it deep. You don’t want to lose by 150-160 runs. (On bouncing back from defeats on this tour) Yes, the series is really well poised. Even after Cardiff, we remained calm and bounced back. We expect a team like England to bounce back,” Kohli concluded.