By: BCCI
India captain MS Dhoni was all praise for Virat Kohli who notched up his 23rd ODI century under testing conditions at Chennai. Rotating the strike and Kohli’s pace of the innings was what impressed Dhoni the most.
“The pace of Kohli’s innings was important,” MS Dhoni said. “On pitches like these, you may push the pedal thinking you have to accelerate but he was also rotating the strike well. When you play long innings, you have to put pressure on the fielders.”
“You have to put pressure on the bowlers when they are fielding in the boundaries,” he added. “That’s how you get them tired, and when they come for a second or third spell, they’ll make an error or two. So it was good the way he paced his innings and (almost) played out the quota of overs.”
It had been thirteen ODI innings since Virat Kohli last scored a century. But Kohli was undeterred by it and scored a ton with some authority and style. It came no surprise for MS Dhoni though who felt Kohli always had this constant urge to become a better player with each passing day.
“Virat is someone who right from the very start of his career has always wanted to improve his game. Even if he would get out on a 60 or 70, he always wanted to convert it into a 100. Obviously, this 100, he is more experienced. The pitch has been very different too. If you compare this century to the ones he scored in the series against Australia (2013) – the pitch had dew and they were big scoring games, that’s why it was an important innings.”
“On a slow pitch, the batsman who is set will find it easier than a new batsman. Just watching how he paced from 60 to 110; the bracket when most batsmen get out was impressive. And you know, once he crosses that mark, he will always play a big innings because that’s his mindset.”
Kohli shared two century stands – one with Ajinkya Rahane for the third wicket and the next with Suresh Raina for the fourth. Raina himself was coming off a dry patch, but it was good to see him hit a half century and strike some form before the all important final in Mumbai.
“It is important going into the last game having batsmen who are in form. Yes, he (Raina) made a few bad decisions in the last few games playing shots. In the games that he got a chance, he still had a chance to get his eye in. I felt he played the big shots too early. When it pays off, it looks very good but when it doesn’t there are a lot of people who criticize that. He has to give himself that much of time depending on when he goes in to bat. It is good to have him among the runs.”
India defended the target well with the spinners choking the South African batsmen at all times. They picked four wickets within themselves with Harbhajan Singh picking up two. Dhoni lauded his bowlers’ efforts. “Our spinners bowled well and applied pressure. They did really well.
Harbhajan is someone who is very experienced. He has done well in IPL also. He is bowling well now. At times we always assess bowling in terms of wickets. But a lot of times, especially having the advantage of being a wicketkeeper, I can see how someone’s bowling and how much he is extracting off the wicket. Losing Ashwin at the start of the series was a big blow but the way Harbhajan has bowled so far has eased a bit of pressure.”
