Sanjay Bangar, the batting coach of Indian national cricket team, highly praised the Indian skipper Virat Kohli for continuing his brilliant batting in the Ranchi ODI.
Chasing down the 314 runs target against Australia in Ranchi ODI on last Friday (8th March), India was under pressure at a very early stage as they were battling on 27/3.
Once again, Virat Kohli came to rescue the national team with his bat. Though India suffered a 32-run defeat in that match, Virat Kohli’s innings outran the match result. The Indian skipper played the magnificent and unforgettable innings of 123 runs off 95 balls. In that brilliant innings, Virat Kohli hit 16 boundaries and only over-boundary.
However, his knock finally went in vain due to not getting enough support from the other batsmen. In that big chasing innings, only Vijay Shankar (32) was the other batsman to reach the 30-run mark. After the hard battle, India was bundled out for 281 runs (48.2 overs).
Dew factor was the key for India’s defeat
Talking about the match, Sanjay Bangar revealed that they decided to bowl first for the dew factor. However, there was no dew during the game. As the ball was keeping low and there was no dew, it was difficult for the host side to chase that big target.
However, Sanjay Bangar further added that Virat Kohli’s batting gave them high hope. He feels that India could’ve won the match if Virat Kohli stayed in the crease till end.
Sanjay Bangar said after the end of the match, “The way he batted, we expected to chase down the target as the dew factor was the premise for opting to field first. Groundsmen reported that and because there was so much dew yesterday, we opted to chase.
“But today, since there was no dew, the target couldn’t be chased as the ball kept low and it became a factor. Virat wanted to convert every ball and he could have put pressure had he been around for some more time.”
Virat Kohli is setting an example for any aspiring youngsters
The Indian captain is regularly growing up higher in his game. In almost every international innings, he is breaking some special world cricket records and earning more achievements. The Ranchi ODI was his 41st ODI century and 66th international century.
The 30-year-old right-handed batsman has already scored 10,816 runs in 217 ODI innings with an average of 60.08. At present, he is the third highest ODI run-scorer for the Indian national cricket team.
In the ongoing home ODI series against Australia, Virat Kohli is the leading run-scorer. He has scored 283 runs in three innings with an average of 94.33. The right-handed batsman has hit two consecutive centuries in the last two ODIs.
Sanjay Bangar lauded the Indian skipper for his constant success. The Indian batting coach has claimed that Virat Kohli is setting an example for any aspiring youngsters.
Sanjay Bangar added, “He’s somebody who constantly looks out on an area for improvement and he does that on a regular basis. Probably that’s the reason why he has raised the game to such a level.
“The constant quest for excellence that Virat possesses is a phenomenal factor and it’s an example for any aspiring youngsters to follow.”
At present, India is leading the ongoing five-match home ODI series against Australia by 2-1 with two matches to go. They will play the last two games of the series at Mohali and Delhi on 10th and 13th March.