Virat Kohli reminiscent of his 122 against England, calls it a special innings

Indian captain Virat Kohli must be an elated man after winning the 5-match ODI series 3-1 in the West Indies, and all of that without a head coach by the team’s side. He didn’t fiddle much with the playing combination and retained almost all the players from the Champions Trophy 2017 squad. Kohli expressed delight on having found match winners in Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav, both of them have sprung up surprises when expected the least.

Kohli revealed that West Indies could not be taken lightly, no international team can be taken lightly, which is why he didn’t want to make a lot of changes in the squad. Speaking to media after trouncing Windies in the fifth and final ODI at Kingston’s Sabina Park, Kohli said its important to stick to the plans without making too many abrupt calls.

Respect the opposition

“You can’t take any series lightly. You can’t make a Hardik or Kedar bat at No. 3 and 4 and make your top-order batsman bat lower down. It’s still international cricket and you have to be respectful towards oppositions and whatever games that you play and it’s very important to understand what works for you as a team and you’ve got to keep sticking to it,” the 28-year-old said.

He, in particular, praised Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav, both of whom are proving brilliant all-rounders for the team.

“We keep giving them confidence and both guys are very eager to make dents, which they have in the past, and we’re very confident of their abilities and we’re actually delighted to have found two lower order batsmen who can play that explosive cricket,” Virat said.

Contemplation over failure in the dressing room 

As for Kohli, he set yet another record as he made his 18th century in ODIs while chasing, which also made him surpass Sachin Tendulkar’s record.

“I don’t like to get out in similar fashion more often. The reason you succeed at international cricket is that you have to stretch the gap between your mistakes and I think a couple of mistakes from me, getting out in the same manner is something that I don’t really like,” he said.

After not having been able to get going in the first three games of the series, it was some serious contemplation which led him to bounce back on track.

“I think the planning starts from your room. You need to sit down and think positively about the shots you want to play. If there’s a bit of hesitation, then you take the route of leaving the ball on one particular shot.

“But if you get into a clear mindset back again and give yourself targets – after reaching 30 or 40, I’m going to start pulling the ball or I’m going to start taking on the short ball and targets become easier. You have a clearer picture as to when to take on that particular shot.”

122 against England in January 2017 was special 

Speaking about his 18th ton while chasing, he was also reminiscent of his 122 against England in Cuttack earlier this year and rated it as the better one among the two.

“It’s difficult to rate centuries. I would say the last one (against England) was still more special because the total was more massive and we were 63 for 4. In hindsight, when you look at those things, you understand the importance of those knocks. Maybe the 49 in Bangladesh against Pakistan (in the Asia Cup T20 2016) was the best I’ve played in the last couple of years.”