Virat Kohli rages over Ravindra Jadeja’s run-out: The Indian captain didn’t shy away from opening up about the controversial dismissal.
Advertisement
India captain Virat Kohli has labeled batsman Shreyas Iyer and wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant’s individual half-centuries as “positives” despite India losing the first ODI of the ongoing West Indies’ tour of India in Chennai.
“I think myself and Rohit [Sharma] not clicking today gave an opportunity for two youngsters to claim a spot. Very good signs for us with the performances of [Shreyas] Iyer and [Rishabh] Pant. They went about their business in a smart manner,” Kohli was quoted as saying during the post-match presentation ceremony.
With West Indies comfortably chasing a 288-run target, it threw light on lack of depth in the Indian bowling attack. Despite having six bowling options up his sleeve, Kohli failed to break a match-winning 218-run partnership for the second wicket between Shai Hope (102*) and Shimron Hetmyer (139).
“We thought six bowling options will be good enough, specially with the pitch being slow and Kedar [Jadhav] as an option. But it played differently under lights. I think they batted really well, you can’t take that out of the equation.
“But I think the ball wasn’t holding enough for the fast bowlers. [Shimron] Hetmyer was outstanding and Shai [Hope] as well. It [pitch] wasn’t a drastic change, but a little bit of a change,” Kohli said about their bowling options.
Virat Kohli rages over Ravindra Jadeja’s run-out
In the first innings, India all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s controversial run-out denied India of an apt finish. Given the confusion regarding the dismissal and Kohli himself walking down the pavilion to speak to the third umpire, the topic was expected to be discussed and the 31-year old player didn’t hesitate to share his opinion.
“The thought is simple, the fielder asked ‘how is that’ and the umpire said ‘not out’. The dismissal ends there. The people sitting on the TV outside cannot tell the fielders to then tell the umpire to review it again. I’ve never seen that happen in cricket.
“I don’t know where the rules are, where the line is drawn. I think the referee and the umpires have to take that up, see that incident again. And figure out what needs to be done in cricket. People sitting outside can’t dictate what happens on the field. I think that’s exactly what happened there,” Kohli added.
