Kohli on Dhoni’s dismissal in Sydney ODI vs Australia: The Indian captain was vocal about India’s loss and Dhoni’s dismissal.
During the first ODI of the ongoing India’s tour of Australia at Sydney, Australia defeated India by 34 runs to go 1-0 up in the series.
After winning the toss, Australia captain Aaron Finch’s men ended up scoring 288-5 in their allotted quota of 50 overs. Peter Handscomb, who came in to bat at No. 5, ended up top-scoring for his team as he scored 73 (61) with the help of six fours and two sixes. With bowling figures of 10-0-54-2, Kuldeep Yadav was the pick of the Indian bowlers.
India got off to perhaps the worst possible start as they lost three wickets with a mere four runs on the board. It was at this time that India vice-captain Rohit Sharma and wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni stitched a 137-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Once Dhoni (51) got out in the 33rd over, things started to appear difficult for India. Despite Sharma’s determined 22nd ODI century, India suffered majorly due to lack of support from the other end. India ended up scoring 254-9 in 50 overs.
Jhye Richardson, who opened the bowling for Australia alongside debutant Jason Behrendorff, registered career-best bowling figures of 10-0-26-4 and was declared the ‘Man of the Match’.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, India captain Virat Kohli expressed displeasure in the way India played. Satisfied with his bowlers, Kohli was seen finding faults in the top-order.
“We’re not very pleased with the way we played. I think we were fine with the ball. That wicket was 300 plus par. I think we did well with the ball. We thought 288 was quite gettable. Losing three wickets upfront is never good,” Kohli was quoted as saying.
The 30-year old cricketer hailed Sharma for his ‘outstanding’ innings and felt lack of partnerships caused India a victory. “I thought Rohit was outstanding and MS [Dhoni] supported him but I thought we could have done better with the tempo of the game and we fell short. They took the game deep to give us a chance. MS got out at that stage. That put pressure on Rohit.
“One more good partnership and we would have got close. But losing three wickets up front was the problem and Australia were professional enough not to let us back in.
“I think we have to take it as a day when Australia played better than us. We’re not too stressed about results. I think days like these make you aware of things you have to work on as a team,” Kohli added.
