Couldn't Have Asked For A Better Start: Kohli After Win Vs Australia
Two wins out of two and Virat Kohli is extremely pleased with the way the Indian cricket team is playing in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. India gave a perfect demonstration of power hitting against Australia at The Oval on Sunday and Kohli singled out Hardik Pandya for his 27-ball 48 that pushed the team's score past 350. Kohli is not thinking of the semifinals right now but says winning against two tough teams is a definite advantage. India play New Zealand next at Nottingham on June 13.
(Video courtesy: ICC)
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(Video courtesy: ICC)
For ICC World Cup full coverage: https://www.outlookindia.com/sports
#Sports #OutlookMagazine #OutlookGroup
Transcript
00:00 Do you think that by winning two consecutive matches you are on the highway of reaching
00:10 the semi-finals or it is too early?
00:13 I think in my opinion it is too early to decide that.
00:15 I think after about six games we will be in a better position to know where we stand in
00:21 the tournament, where we stand in the table.
00:24 But yeah we couldn't have asked for a better start against two strong sides.
00:27 The good thing is we are playing all strong sides up front so as I mentioned in Mumbai
00:31 before we left, if we do well in the first phase then we will be in a better position
00:35 to reach the semi-finals.
00:37 So for us it is actually a good thing that we are playing the strongest sides in world
00:42 cricket if you look at the rankings before the first phase gets over.
00:46 So from that point of view we have to be at the best, at the top of our game and precisely
00:52 what we have done in the two games and that is why we won both.
00:57 Considering that we had lost to the same Australian side four years ago in Sydney,
01:03 do you feel extremely pleased after having today's tough match?
01:07 Look we were more motivated to win today because of the fact that we lost the series in India
01:16 being 2-0 up and there was no Mitchell Stark either.
01:19 So him coming in makes their bowling lineup even stronger.
01:23 So I think we had to be at the top of our game as I said and couldn't have asked for
01:27 a better game to be honest in all three departments.
01:30 Set the tone the way we wanted to with the bat up front, getting a very good opening
01:34 partnership, I got runs, Hardik played outstandingly well, MS played his role perfectly, KL just
01:40 struck the ball so beautifully.
01:42 So from that point of view I think we played a really good one day game today, something
01:48 that any team would want to do.
01:51 And yes the results in the past, we had to make sure that against this side we win all
01:57 the moments, the crucial moments.
02:00 Once you let your foot off the pedal then they will capitalise because they are always
02:03 looking to be on top of the opposition.
02:06 So very very pleased with this one.
02:08 Virat, just before you, Aaron Finch came and said that you bowled very well to David Warner
02:14 and kept him quiet and ultimately that did make a difference.
02:18 Can you throw light on that particular aspect of the game today where you kept Warner quiet?
02:23 Well we sort of felt like they were a bit hesitant in going for the boundary option.
02:29 So the communication was very simple, bowl at good lengths but within the stumps and
02:37 pitch it up.
02:38 Because as a batsman I know when you are not looking for a boundary option, the last ball
02:43 you want is a length ball on stumps because you have to play a good shot to get a boundary.
02:49 I just felt like at that stage they didn't want to lose wickets was the mentality that
02:54 we felt.
02:55 They wanted to keep wickets so that it can strike big in the end but I think that was
02:58 too big a total to play like that initially.
03:01 So we sensed that, the bowler sensed that and then we just thought the higher we take
03:06 the run rate, we will get a few chances to take wickets and then the game will go beyond
03:11 them slowly.
03:12 I think the communication was important from bowlers as well.
03:15 So it was both ways, it wasn't just me speaking to them.
03:18 We both had a discussion and then we executed a plan.
03:21 Virat, two things.
03:24 One, what about Shekhar's injury, an update on that and also the fact that during this
03:31 phase has the Indian team 22 overs of dot balls if we go by the dot ball count.
03:36 It's an astounding count against an Australian team of this quality so how do you rate that,
03:43 an extension of that question, 22 dot ball?
03:46 Shekhar's fitness, I'm not too sure at the moment.
03:50 Just come out of the field and Patrick is in control of the situation.
03:55 He will give us an update by tomorrow and then I'm sure it will be conveyed through
04:00 Merlin to the whole media set up.
04:03 I mentioned before the game, if we put enough runs on the board, we back our bowling line-up
04:08 to defend anything.
04:09 There's a good reason why I said that because you have two spinners in the middle overs
04:14 who are always looking to pick wickets and then you have Bhuvi, Bumrah, Hardik is bowling
04:17 really well, Kedar can chip in with a few overs.
04:20 On an overcast day, Shammi could play as well.
04:22 So you're looking at strike bowlers through and through.
04:26 So in one day cricket when you have strike bowlers, you will have dot balls because the
04:30 batsmen will give respect to a guy who can get you out.
04:34 So I think we have a really good bowling line-up and they understand their strengths more importantly.
04:41 Just give them the ball in a situation and they know exactly what to do.
04:44 So I literally don't have anything to plan with these guys because they do their skills
04:50 so well and they're at the top of their game right now for sure and I hope they can be
04:54 in that mindset so that we can go along and win the tournament.
04:57 What was the thought process when we were actually at 36 overs, 224-2, you were already
05:02 scoring at 6, sending Pandya at number 4.
05:05 At that point you suddenly reckon it's a 350 pitch, not a 325.
05:09 Ultimately it proved as a great plan because it scored at a 177 strike rate.
05:17 The communication before that was if I get out, MS will come in to control that one end
05:25 and if the other guy gets out, if Shikhar got out, then Hardik would have stepped in.
05:33 So exactly what happened and the communication came from the management, they said let's
05:39 send Hardik and try and capitalise this phase because last time we played here against Sri
05:43 Lanka we got 330 and we lost the game.
05:45 And then the fact that Hardik said to me in the middle that I'm there at one end gave
05:50 him more freedom to strike from ball one and he literally just wanted to strike at 200.
05:56 That was his plan and then MS came in and he did the same job beautifully.
06:01 I think that's where management and that communication is very important also.
06:06 They understood that this is a phase where we could get those extra runs and they just
06:10 sent Hardik and I think that was a really, really good plan.
06:14 [Music]