Sanjay Bangar, India’s batting coach, has heaped lavish praise on the Indian batsmen after the team’s comprehensive 7-wicket win over New Zealand in third ODI at Mohali.
Chasing 286 to win the match, India started poorly as it lost both of its openers on 41 but Virat Kohli along with captain MS Dhoni added 151 runs for the third wicket to set the platform for the win. Dhoni was dismissed after a well-made 80 but Kohli stayed till the end to take India home. The Indian vice-captain scored 154.
Speaking to BCCI.Tv, Bangar said: “It was a fabulous batting performance. We were expecting dew to set in today, but there was no hint of dew and the wicket slowed down considerably. The bowlers used slower balls and cutters a lot. From that point of view, it was a wonderful chase with a couple of good partnerships between MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli and Virat & Manish. It was a very pleasing performance.”
Commenting on Kohli’s innings, the former Indian cricketer said that Kohli’s sound ability to read the game has made him one of the finest in the limited-overs cricket.
“He reads the game very well. He is aware of the situations and he beautifully sets the game up. He runs hard, picks his scoring areas and exactly knows opposition’s plans apart from the game plan that he possesses. A combination of all these factors make him one of the best batsmen to play the shorter format,” Bangar said.
Bangar also expressed his delight over Dhoni’s decision to promote himself in the batting order. The Indian captain was under a lot of pressure to perform and he finally came good with the bat in the third match as he played a vital knock of 80 runs.
“He batted with a lot of freedom. Batting up the order, he hasn’t got many opportunities. He has been batting at No. 5 or 6. In the last two-three seasons, our top-order has done so well that he has had fewer opportunities to bat and that is why his performance or contributions have not been noticed. I am very pleased for him that he got enough time to spend in the middle. He hit the trademark shots that he has always been capable of, but he had been holding back. I am happy that he has not got that out of the cold storage,” said Bangar.