Visakhapatnam: Indian captain Virat Kohli said Wednesday the way his side have been posting big totals after being put in to bat in the last few ODIs showed that the team was not over reliant on toss.
India scored a massive 387 for five after being put in to bat by West Indies here. They won the match by 107 runs.
“In the last three games, including the one at Wankhede and first two ODIs (of this series), we’ve batted well in first half. Batting second isn’t an issue, we’re one of the top sides, if not the best, while chasing. As a captain, nice to see the way we’ve batted first after losing the toss. It shows we’re not reliant on the toss,” Kohi said after the match.
“It’s always good to get 40-50 runs extra and we want to bat the opposition out of the game. Rohit and KL (Rahul) were outstanding; the opening partnership set it up. Shreyas (Iyer) and Rishabh (Pant), the way they played, was outstanding,” added the Indian skipper.
Asked about the 34 boundaries and 16 sixes India hit during the innings in view of the T20 World Cup next year, Kohli said, “The more we get confident in T20s while batting first, the better. There’s no major 50-over cricket now, so we need to just play fearlessly, which is the need of the hour.”
Kohli, however, made his displeasure known about the poor fielding in the last two matches. He said the team will need to maintain high standards in all the departments of the game.
West Indies captain Kieron Pollard said his side gave away too many runs at the back end.
“We were not able to execute our plans how we want to. If it was 40-50 runs less, it might have been little different. Rohit batted well and so did KL Rahul. That allowed the other batsmen to play freely (in the death overs). We thought and saw that it will be a good wicket. They were able to get away from us at back end,” Pollard said.
Man-of-the-match Rohit Sharma said it was a much needed victory for India. “We wanted to get our act together,” said Rohit. “We had a very very crucial partnership. KL (Rahul) batted brilliantly and allowed me to take my time. KL is such a talent when you watch it from the opposite end. He is growing in confidence,” added the ‘Hitman’.
PTI