The Indian skipper Virat Kohli called it an “MS classic” after the former Indian skipper MS Dhoni, fished the Adelaide ODI against Australia with sixes that reminded of his heydays. He strong-armed the point that the finisher in him is still alive. Dhoni played an unbeaten 55 off 54 balls after Kohli laid the foundation for India’s series-leveling six-wicket win over Australia in the second ODI with another mind-boggling century.
During the post-match presentation, Virat said, “There is no doubt that he should be a part of this team. Tonight was an MS classic. He calculates the game so well. He takes the game until the end when only he knows what’s going on in his mind, and he backs himself to hit those big shots at the end.”
Kohli failed to take India over the line but Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik (25 off 14) made a brilliant partnership of 57 runs in for the 5th wickets, helping India chase down a target of 299 with four balls to spare.
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Talking about the same, Kohli said, “You look for little moments to pump you up, get into the zone, and that’s what I was trying to do. I tried to stay as aware as possible in recognizing the moment to strike. I thought those 2-3 overs were the moment, to bring the gap between runs and balls down. When it comes off, it looks good. It was a really tough day. My pants are white with the sweat, the salt’s coming out. MS was tired as well, fielding for 50 overs and batting as well, it was tough.”
Kohli praised seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for his crucial blows at the death. He said, “I thought they were going to get away from us when Maxy (Glenn Maxwell) and Shaun Marsh were in. Getting them in two balls was brilliant. I thought 298 was par on that wicket, with the start they had. Bhuvi was outstanding to pull things back for us. Vijay Shankar is in the squad, he’s an all-rounder, so that gives us an option to play around with – but we’ll see how we go. But backing five bowlers and seeing it come off is pleasing as a captain.”
Australia got the support of the fluent century from Shaun Marsh to post a challenging target after winning the first ODI. But India’s batting might prove too good for the hosts.
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Acknowledging the same, the skipper Aaron Finch said, “When you come up like a batting side against India, you know you have to get wickets regularly, and we ran into that man Dhoni as well. Credit to India, they played well. What we’ve been working towards is some real solid performances through the middle overs. I’m responsible for the Powerplays, and I’ve not been coming off. It’s not easy when you’re not getting runs, but captaincy is separate from personal performance, and you have to be consistent with your actions.”
Praising the efforts of Marsh, Finch said that the southpaw was pretty cooked by the end of it as he got 138 in brutal conditions this afternoon, with that heat, and for us to get 298, was pleasing, but in the end, they managed to get past that.
