Virat Kohli & Co. had a stunning game during the recently-concluded three-match ODI series against the visiting Australia. Although the team had a disastrous opening gap when they lost the series opener by 10 wickets. It was after 15 years when India, one of the top-ranked cricket team, was defeated by such a margin, that too, in terms of the number of wickets.
However, the disappointing defeat led the entire team to make a strong comeback in the second game at Rajkot. The successful series had the skipper Kohli’s heart swell in happiness over the work done by his teammates.
While India is preparing for the anticipated tour of New Zealand, Kohli said that 2020 has been wonderful for the Men in Blue.
“Clarity of mind is the key thing. You need to have a free mind, and today I felt like that. Today I went for my shots. (Satisfying win) Even better than last time. There’s Steven, David and Marnus. After 2-0, we lost the last series. We won this after going one down. 2020 has been wonderful, and we just want to go onwards and upwards. Great for the team,” Kohli said.
Earlier this year, India hosted a three-match twenty-overs series for Sri Lanka which they won by 2-0 as the first one was marred by rain. Thus, it was a perfect entry for the team into the year 2020. And then the mind-boggling series win over Australia certainly boosted the morale of the team as they gear up for the much-awaited month-long New Zealand tour.
Virat Kohli lauds Jasprit Bumrah:
Meanwhile, India’s pace spearhead, Bumrah had made a decent comeback in the Australia series. Bumrah had been recovering from the stress fracture ever since India toured West Indies in 2019. Even though he remained out of the team for a prolonged gap, he bowled quite well in death overs after giving away 50 runs in the 1st ODI.
Although he did pick a wicket during the three games, the top-ranked pacer stopped the threatening Aussie batsmen in the last two games by bowling his heart out. Skipper Kohli praised the tough task done by his ace pacer. He said that the 26-year-old pacer took the brunt of stopping the opposing batsmen that later helped other bowlers.
“He took it upon himself to do the job for the team, contain runs and in turn, the other guys were rewarded because he created the pressure. I think his death bowling in the last two games were outstanding and the areas he hit with the new ball today and in the last game was very special,” Kohli said.
After the first match, Bumrah swiftly went back to his threatening self and restricted the likes of Steven Smith and Marnus Labuschagne. In the second game, the right-arm pacer had an economy rate of 4.58 and went on to pick a wicket.
Meanwhile, in the series decider, Bumrah had bowled remarkably well in the death overs while pressurising the batsmen. Bumrah’s pace helped Kohli-led India to register a remarkable win in the third ODI that helped him to win the series.