Kolkata: Indian captain Virat Kohli lauded the effort of Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who gave two crucial breakthroughs at the start of Australian innings. Talking at the post match presentation ceremony, Virat said, “We didn’t feel like we had enough at the break. We knew if we had a good start, we had a chance. We needed breakthroughs throughout. Bhuvi’s spell was more important because they knew that the two wrist spinners can do enough damage in the middle overs. So they needed some runs in the first 10 overs. He gave two crucial breakthroughs in the start of their innings and could have got a third one as well. I think he set the game for us by giving only 9 runs in his first six overs and picking those two crucial wickets. The delivery that he got both the openers was unplayable. That is what he (Bhuvneshwar) brings to the table when there is a bit of assistance to the pitch you can count on Bhuvi to give you the breakthroughs.”
Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzuvendra Chahal has been a revelation for the Indians since the ODI series in Sri Lanka. The spin pair has now taken 10 wickets between them to set a panic button among the Australian batsmen. According to Virat, “Yes, it was outstanding. Two young guys bowling with a lot of heart and getting us those breakthroughs against top quality sides augurs well for us. It speaks volumes of their character. I think they will do well in future games as well. Their performance keeps the competition up with the 2019World Cup in mind. We now have a lot of options and all bases covered at the moment.”
Talking about his own Man of the Match effort with the bat, Virat said, “I always try to create that kind of motivation for myself, I don’t like differentiate at any stage, I knew I had to stay longer because the wicket was tricky. It came off today so it looked nice; it didn’t in Chennai so it didn’t look nice. That’s how it goes in the shorter format in international cricket.”
Australian captain Steve Smith must be wondering what his batsmen need to do to get out the voodoo of the Indian wrist spinners. According to the Aussie captain, “We were pretty happy with 250 at the break. I thought we did a good job bowling. Batsmen made poor decisions under pressure. Stoinis was pretty good at the end, probably my fault and Head’s fault, we both got in. It slowed up and spun more as the game went on. We need to make better decisions consistently. They’ve got all bases covered (India’s bowlers).”
India successfully defended the 252 runs with ease to go 2-0 up in the five match series here at the Eden Gardens. The Men in Blue restricted the visitors to 202 runs in 43.1 overs to register an emphatic win by 50 runs. It wasn’t a bad surface to bat on, which makes this loss even harder to take for Australia. They just struggled against the Indian spin twins of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzuvendra Chahal. Australians will now have to win all the three remaining ODIs to win the series.