Virat Kohli’s first series as the T20I skipper ended in some style as India bulldozed England at Bengaluru to clinch the three-match series 2-1. For the Men in Blue, all boxes were ticked as a superb performance from the middle-order propelled the hosts to a gigantic first innings score of 202-6. A fighting half-century from Suresh Raina set the tone, and a blistering cameo from Yuvraj Singh was a pleasing sight.
But the biggest aspect about the game was Mahendra Singh Dhoni scoring his first T20I fifty as promoting him at No. 4 turned out to be a masterstroke. Dhoni expressed himself from the offset as he tore into the England bowlers. He found great company in his long time pal Yuvraj Singh, whose 10-ball knock of 27 was the game changer.
Post the series win, skipper Kohli was beaming with joy and lauded Mahendra Singh Dhoni for stepping up in the big games.
“I wanted to send him (MS Dhoni) up, but he is the one to say he will bat down the order,” said Kohli.
“He is a champion player and he is a match-winner. Come to the big game, he stepped up. It is a memorable tour. When we went to England we lost the Test series. It has been a brilliant couple of months for this side.”
Kohli even admitted he always looks up to Dhoni for advise.
“Even after losing all three tosses, we won the series, just like the Test series. It is not a very bad thing to have MS Dhoni behind the stumps. I am new to the limited overs format and I keep taking help. A lot of credit goes to them. Yes, that too and that one over from Jordan to Yuvi. We thought 175-180, but that over took us to 200,” Kohli added.
Praising leg-spinner Yuzuvendra Chahal for a record spell of 6/25, Kohli said the leggie bowled with a big heart indeed.
“Credit to Chahal, he knows the ground better. I have a lot of faith in him and he plays his cricket with confidence. He has to maintain his orginality and it is great to have a guy who has so much zeal.”
Chahal was named the Man of the Series for picking up eight wickets and he too was lit up with joy.
“I felt nice playing my first match at Bengaluru for India,” said Chahal.
“I have bowled in the powerplay in the IPL and Virat has the confidence in me to give me the ball. I plan according to how the batsman plays. Even Dhoni used to tell me what the batsman is going to play. Mishy bowled well in the last match as well, looking at him I get the confidence to toss the ball up.”