Nagpur: Virat Kohli once again played an unbelievable knock as he went on to score a 66-ball 115 that helped India chase a mammoth 350 runs to level the seven-match ODI series 2-2 on Wednesday. An ecstatic Virat said that he loved batting under lights.
Virat, who was awarde the man-of-the-match, said that Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan set a perfect platform for the chase. “That was the plan I guess. Rohit and Shikhar set the platform. Later, Shikhar was getting a bit of cramp and it was important that one of us went through to the end. I took some risks early on to attack the bowlers. I thought I should let Shikhar bat through, and then once he got out, I thought I should finish the game,” said Kohli, adding that when Mitchell Johnson came back to bowl, it helped to have MS at the other end.
“He told me that we had wickets and we need to go after Mitchell. I then went after him and it was a calculated risk. I had confidence in my ability and backed myself. I like bating under lights, as I have said before, and if you have a target on board its always easy to analyse how many runs you need and how to go about it,” said Kohli, adding that he can't wait to play in Bangalore.
“Bangalore has always been a great wicket for both the batsmen and bowlers. With both teams levelled at 2-2, its exciting that the series is going down to the wire in the final match,” he added.
Meanwhile, though happy with the astonishing win, Indian skipper MS Dhoni looked concerned about the amount of runs that have been scored lately.
Dhoni said that ODIs becoming a batsmen's game wasn't good for the 'health' of cricket in long run. “I think it's something we need to think about. Is 350 the new 280, 290 or 300? The bowlers are mostly getting smashed. Even the fast bowlers are bowling with their third man up and fine leg up. Not sure where its going but if we are chasing like this, it is not going to be good for the long-term health of the game,” said a concerned Dhoni.
“We knew a bit of dew will come later. Chasing it is slightly easy, as we can break down the game at intervals. We can evaluate after the 30-over mark as to what we need to do and what we can achieve. I think Shikhar and Rohit batted really well, and Shikhar got a century. For Rohit it was one of those days when you can't find the gaps and he absorbed the pressure so well,” said Dhoni, who was in all praise for Virat Kohli as well.
“Yes I think Virat was brilliant, the reason being that as the ball got old he was counterattacking and maintaining a good position when going for the big shots. He made it look easy and the way he took pressure off the batsmen was amazing. Its always about taking the pressure off the new batsman,” said Dhoni, adding that Bangalore was known for its big runs, so he wasn't not sure how much India would need to chase or how much they have to set to chase over there.
Meanwhile George Bailey, Australia captain, said that it was disappointing to lose after setting such a big score. “Virat played an unbelievable knock. It was a beautiful batting wicket, so you don't see many batters complaining about it. We needed to find early breakthroughs. You can always do things differently, that never changes, win or lose, but we fought our way back into the game really well. We made them hit really good shots and when a guy is batting well that is all you can do. We are really looking forward to Bangalore now,” he said.