Virat Kohli had a look of relief on his face after last night’s win against the Windies. The amount of scrutiny that he had to go through after Kumble’s sacking was affecting his on-field performances to some extent, and he was delighted that he could lead his team to a series win last night.
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Kohli wasn’t enjoying the best of times with the bat in the Carribean, unable to sort the short ball out, but he was at his imperious best last night, pacing his innings to perfection and helping India cross the line without any stutters.
In the post match presentation, Darren Ganga asked Kohli if his failures in the last two games troubled him in any way, to which Kohli very promptly replied that he did not want to disappoint Darren.
“If you carry 15-16 members in the squad, it’s important to believe in their abilities. If you are playing for the nation, you have to be good at this level. People are grabbing their opportunities. DK, Kuldeep have been good. Shami is playing an ODI almost after two years, hats off to those guys for grabbing the opportunities. I have always been a batsman that’s played the situation and that’s something that has never changed. I still think the same way I used to when I wasn’t the captain. It’s a taking a bit more responsibility for the guys at the other end. That’s always a nice thing to learn and also makes you understand the game better as well. I’m relishing the opportunity” Kohli said.
Kohli has been very vocal about Rahane’s contribution in the series and also spoke highly of Shami and Kuldeep who did a very good job with the ball in the series.
“First and foremost, the aim was to win the series, have a complete team performance and a couple of standout performances. Special mention to Rahane who has been consistent throughout the series. It has been a while in ODI cricket and the way he batted was outstanding. Shikhar was really good at the top as well. Kuldeep Yadav with the ball was also outstanding. Every time with the ball, we were on the button and been consistent. Really pleased with the whole team effort. Today was another clinical performance from us. Winning convincingly in a chase is always a nice feeling and something we aim to do as a team. I didn’t want to disappoint you (Darren Ganga)” he added.
