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Internet Desk: Virat Kohli led India achieved a unique milestone at Port of Spain in the 2nd ODI on Sunday. India went past 300 runs for the 96th time in ODI’s, one more than what Australia achieved. The world champions have registered 300+ score on 95 occasions previously.
In the 96 occasions that India went past 300-run total, they have been victorious on 75 occasions while facing defeat on 19 times.
The first time India amassed a 300+ score in ODI’s was in 1996 against arch rivals Pakistan in Sharjah when they smashed 305/5.
Indian captain Virat Kohli lauded Ajinkya Rahane for setting the platform for a huge total. Rahane, who missed out in the playing eleven during the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy made the most of his selection in the side. He shared a century partnership with Shikhar Dhawan for the opening wicket.
“Rahane has been a part of the ODI set-up for a while and we all felt he had a great potential at the top of the order. He is always there as the third opening batsman. In this series, I think he has started taking a lot less pressure on himself and has begun enjoying his game more,” Kohli said.
“There are very few people who can perform two roles for the team. He can open and he can play in the middle-order. So, I see him providing more balance to us as a side, like we can take an extra bowling option when he is there,” he added.
The Indian captain also heaped huge praises on chinaman bolwer Kuldeep Yadav.
Kohli said, “I have faced him in the IPL. He’s quite amazing with what he does with the bowl and especially on dry wickets like it was today, he becomes even more lethal. Credit to him for putting up such a performance.”
Kohli has hinted Rishabh Pant’s inclusion in the side for the third ODI to be played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on June 30.
Pant, who made his T20I debut against England earlier this year, performed well in the 2017 Indian Premier League (366 runs in 14 games) and was among the five players in the standby list for the ICC Champions Trophy. With Rohit Sharma rested for the Windies series, Rishabh Pant was named in the side as the third opener.
“We’ll sit down and decide as a team about changes that can be made [when asked about Pant]. We’ll go to Antigua and regroup, and that’s a possibility as well, give a few guys an opportunity,” he said.
India leads the five match ODI series 1-0 with the first ODI being washed out due to rain.