Ind vs Eng: Virat Kohli concerned about scheduling; After triumphing in the final ODI and winning the series 2-1, Indian team’s captain Virat Kohli expressed his satisfaction with the performance.
“This win is sweet because we won all three series (Test, ODI, and T20I), and it’s against the top side in the world,” a happy-looking Indian captain said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
However, he did express hopes of greater contribution from India’s batting top-3 in the future. “If (one of) the top three can get a hundred, then we can get 370s and 380s later.”
However, with the Indian team having been in action almost continuously since the Indian Premier League (IPL) last year, and with no respite in near future, Kohli did drop a hint that he is not happy with the scheduling.
“Scheduling needs to be looked at in future, since playing in bubbles will be difficult…am sure things will be discussed and things will change in the future,” Kohli remarked.
England captain Jos Buttler, who took over the captaincy due to the injury sustained by Eoin Morgan, looked at the positives for his team and remarked that the experience would come in handy for the players in his side.
“We’ve learnt a lot as a side…The white-ball leg was competitive. These are the conditions we will face in the T20 World Cup.”
Jonny Bairstow was adjudged Man of the Series for his brilliant batting in the first two matches while Sam Curran was given the Man of the Match award for his breathtaking innings today.
Virat though, didn’t seem happy with the decision of the jury and let his thoughts be known.
“I am surprised he (Shardul Thakur) wasn’t man of the match. Four wickets and 30 runs of 20 balls. Also, Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) not being man of the series, taking six wickets in three matches at an economy rate of under 7. In my book, that is a no-brainer.”
Interestingly, Bairstow defended his decision to bat outside off-stump despite falling a victim to Bhuvneshwar lbw precisely because of that.
“We know Bhuvi’s skills, getting outside off is the way to counter it,” the English opener stated.