Virat Kohli terms Prithvi Shaw and Shubman Gill: The Indian captain might just have hinted regarding who will replace him.
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During the third ODI of the ongoing India’s tour of New Zealand at Mount Maunganui, India defeated New Zealand by 7 wickets to earn an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match ODI series. The result means that India captain Virat Kohli has become the second Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to register an ODI series win in New Zealand.
In which was another comprehensive effort, the visitors would be cherished to decide the result of the series within six days. Talking about the third ODI, Indian batsmen chased down a 244-run target with utter ease and precision. Call it their dominance or the inability of the hosts to restrict the Indians, seldom did one see the Indian batsmen in any trouble.
While vice-captain Rohit Sharma (62) and Kohli (60) scored individual half-centuries, it was an unbeaten 77-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Ambati Rayudu (40) and Dinesh Karthik (38) which saw India sealing the chase.
In the first innings, Indian bowling unit came together to restrict the opposition on 243 in 49 overs. With bowling figures of 9-0-41-3, fast bowler Mohammad Shami was the pick of the Indian bowlers. Apart from him, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal picked up a couple of wickets each.
With the series in the bag now, India will look to make more experiments to their playing XI in a bid to test each and every member sitting on the bench. Speaking during the post-match presentation, Kohli heaped praise on uncapped batsman Shubman Gill and thought him and other rookie players to be ‘outstanding talent’.
“I think there are some outstanding talents. We saw Prithvi Shaw grab the opportunity with both hands. Shubman is a very exciting talent and I saw him bat in the nets and I was like wow I was not even ten percent of that when I was 19.
“So, that’s the confidence that they carry and it’s great for Indian cricket, the standard keeps going up and the guys coming in can make those impact performances straightaway. And, we are more than happy to give them chances and provide them the space to grow,” Kohli said of India’s young talent.
