Jofra Archer, England pacer said that the India captain’s lean run of form might have dampened the spirit of his camp after Virat Kohli got out without scoring yet again in the first T20I against England on Friday.
Reacting to India captain Virat Kohli’s poor vein of form, England pacer Jofra Archer has said that dismissing the “dangerous batsman” early on so many occasions has been a “real bonus” for his team.
Dismissing Virat Kohli Early So Many Times Is A Real Bonus: Jofra Archer
Virat Kohli, who walked in to bat after KL Rahul was dismissed in the 2nd over of the 1st T20I in Ahmedabad on Friday, registered his first-ever consecutive duck in international cricket. In the preceding 4-match Test series, the 32-year-old had departed twice without opening his account. Spinner Adil Rashid, bowling with a new ball, dismissed Virat Kohli after Chris Jordan took a good catch at mid-off.
“I love to see it when a plan comes off. Rash is a world-class bowler and he can bowl anywhere,” said Archer.
“Kohli is obviously a dangerous batter and to see the back of him early so many times is a real bonus. I think it probably might have dampened their camp a little bit,” Archer said in the post-match press conference.
Jofra Archer was one of England’s many star performers in the match and did not concede a run from 16 of his 24 deliveries and got the wickets of KL Rahul, Hardik Pandya, and Shardul Thakur along the way. He returned with figures of 3/23 and was awarded Man of the Match.
Virat Kohli eclipsed Sourav Ganguly by registering the most international ducks as an Indian captain. Interestingly, the Indian skipper has recorded 14 ducks across all formats of the gentlemen’s game while Sourav Ganguly was dismissed for nought 13 times in his memorable captaincy stint. While Virat Kohli holds the top spot with 14 ducks as captain, his predecessor and former skipper MS Dhoni is third in the list with 11 ducks.
Jofra Archer: There Are Still Four More T20Is Left And India Can Bounce Back
India was reeling at 20/3 but Shreyas Iyer bailed them out to reach a modest 124 by scoring 67 runs off 48 balls which included 8 fours and a six. Jason Roy scored 49 while Jos Buttler scored 28. Their dismissal gave India a dim ray of hope but Jonny Bairstow and Dawid Malan ensured England didn’t lose any further wickets, steering the side to an 8 wicket win as the match ended in the 16th over.
“I’m just glad to help in a win to be honest. When the competition’s tough you have to step up,” he said.
“It brings out the best in me. If get one or I get three, the way I bowl doesn’t change, it just depends on how your luck is at the time.”
Further, Jofra Archer reckoned that England should not take India lightly after a comfortable win in the 1st T20I, adding that the hosts are the world number 2 team in the shortest format for a reason.
“It was just the first game of the series. There are still four more games to go. They are number two in the world for a reason. So I don’t think we can get ahead of ourselves as yet. But it was a good win; we enjoyed it.”
None of the Indian batsmen apart from Shreyas Iyer who scored 67 could manage to score more than 21 as apart from the trio of Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, and Hardik Pandya, none reached the double-figure mark.
On Friday, in Ahmedabad, the Indian skipper was dismissed for a 5-ball duck off the bowling of Adil Rashid as the right-hander tried to smash the leg-spinner over mid-off but was caught by Chris Jordan. He was dismissed twice on duck in the Test series as well. Before his false shot, it was indeed Jofra Archer who choked him with 4 consecutive dot balls in his first over, which was a wicket maiden including the scalp of KL Rahul.