For a team that has often been criticised for their overseas performances, this Indian side, led by Virat Kohli seems to be on a mission to correct those ‘statistics’ about Indian teams touring overseas.
Advertisement
Kohli has led from the front and his intensity, work ethic and determination has rubbed off on all Indian players.
This Indian team seems to be up for the fight, this Indian team wants to take the attack to the opposition, no matter what the condition, no matter what the reputation of the opposition.
Virat Kohli has been at the helm of this success story, scoring runs for fun and leading the side very potently to inflict large scale damage on South African hearts.
Today as well, Kohli led from the front, scoring that emphatic 160 in the first innings to help India score an above par score on this sluggish Newlands track.
During the post match presentation, Kohli seemed very content about how India has played in this ODI series and assured Indian fans that they would come out with even more intensity in the next game in order to wrap up this series.
Talking about the wicket and his 160, Virat Kohli told Shaun Pollock how he and all the other batsman approached the innings, keeping 330 as the target initially, but seeing the sluggish nature of the track after the 30th over, revising their target score to around 280-290.
“Another pleasing day, individually and as a team as well. I think the pitch started with good pace and bounce. After the 30-over mark it was a drastic change. We immediately cut down our target from 320-330 to 280-290 and ended up with 300-plus. The wicket got slower with the old ball. You had to get adjusted to the pace of the wicket. It got slower as the game progressed. If you lead from the front, it feels even better. Another outstanding partnership with Shikhar. He played outstandingly well. Few runs with MS and a good partnership with Bhuvi in the end helped us.” Kohli said.
Kohli was all praise for the young spin twins(again), complimenting them on how they have fared during this tour.
The Indian skipper was also confident about India’s chances in the next few games, not at all fazed by the return of AB de Villiers.
“I was struggling a bit while on 95 but I knew I had to carry on and pull the team out. These are times when you are tested and it is pleasing to go through it and do well. This wicket was not supposed to help the wrist spinners. These two got the maximum out of it. These two back themselves. Today it was outstanding from them as they picked 8 wickets between them. We wanted to bat first and change things a bit. I think our intensity (for the next game) should be more than the previous games. We would try and close the door on them. Having an opportunity, we would take the confidence into the fourth game.” Kohli concluded.
The 4th ODI is set to take place on the 10th of February at the Wanderers.
