India skipper Virat Kohli praised the effort from his bowlers after their series winning performance in the high-scoring third ODI against New Zealand on Sunday. Jasprit Bumrah’s (3/47 in 10 overs) excellent bowling at the death overs helped the hosts to restrict the visitors to 331 for 7 after scoring 337 in the final ODI, winning the series 2-1.
During the post-match presentation, Kohli said, “To be fair to the bowlers: the wicket eased out nicely. The ball was coming onto the bat beautifully. But glad the bowlers came out on top: it was like a knockout game for us, and the boys showed their character.”
However, the Indian skipper didn’t shy off from lauding New Zealand’s performance in the series. He said, “Credit to New Zealand. They challenged us in all three games and forced us to play our best in every game. Credit to the skill and character they possess.”
Virat was seen fielding at the boundary during the slog overs and was looking pretty calm as well. Describing the same, he said, “I decided that I would let the bowlers do what they want to do and that’s why I was calm. There was dew too, just glad the boys pulled through.”
When asked about his brilliant performance in the series by scoring 263 runs with the help of 2 centuries as he also become the fastest to cross the tally of 9000 ODI runs, Virat modestly replied, “My aim is for the team to win the game and the series, and if I personally do well, then it’s an added bonus. These things are hard to ignore since we keep hearing these, but the aim is to always make the team win from any situation.”
Indian opener Rohit Sharma, who got the man of the match award said that he did work on certain adjustments in his technique which paid rich dividends. He said, “I was watching the pre-match analysis where they said my head was falling off, so I worked slightly on it. That helped. My head was falling a bit and wasn’t coming into the line of the ball. The quickly you rectify, the better it is.”
He further added, “Every hundred is special, but what I was working on came off well, and that’s why I am happy. Sanjay Bangar (batting coach) helped my work on some of these things and that’s when results are more pleasing.”
