Debasis Sen, London: It was one such day when the Indian team fielded their opposition out of the match. The Indians were outstanding in the field as they inflicted two crucial run outs to swing the match in their favour. According to Kohli, the two run-outs of AB de Villiers and David Miller were the turning points in the game today at the Oval.
“I think initially before AB got run-out, he did really well and Faf was also batting well. I think his (De Villers) run-out could be the turning point, and David Miller’s; he’s a very dangerous player, as well. They can drag the team up to 260, 270 from any sort of situations. Yeah, I think those two run-outs were the turning point today,” said Kohli after the match.
The Indians were brilliant on the field in-spite of the dropped catch by Hardik Pandya when he let off Hashim Amla off his own bowling. Virat credited both the bowlers and the fielders for complementing each other well.
“Yeah, could you say that the fielding was just outstanding today. I mean, but the pressure was built by the bowlers and that I think that resulted in those run-outs. The breakthroughs that we got on the field were due to some accurate bowling. It’s important to grab those opportunities, as well.”
He added, “I think this was something that we required, this kind of a fielding performance. And before going out, we had a chat in the huddle that I wanted to see everyone’s intensity go up, and that a conscious effort we have to make individually in such a big game, to start well. And then bowlers were on the money and that actually helps the fielders get into better positions and attack the batsmen when they know the bowler is hitting the right spot regularly,” said Kohli after the match.
The Indians will now head to Birmingham to play the second semi-final. In all likelihood Kohli and his team will be up against a charged up Bangladesh team. Whoever wins in the match between Sri Lanka and Pakistan will also go through. It will be for the first time that three teams from the sub-continent will qualify for the last four.
According to Kohli, “I don’t know, maybe because of how much limited overs cricket we play, I think the players are getting more experienced in difficult situations. And not to say that other teams are not playing well, but maybe some of the teams have really surprised the oppositions with the way they have batted and bowled in certain situations. And credit to all the teams that have made the semis so far. They have played some very good cricket to get there and to be anyone; could be teams from the subcontinent and could be England is there, as well, and they are dominating. It’s all about who can play better cricket in a short and competitive tournament like this, and the results are in front of you.”
The Indian captain also credited Jasprit Bumrah who has been outstanding with the ball. The youngster was handed the new ball and it has to be admitted he came out with letter marks.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m sure he was looking forward to it. He’s an attacking bowler, and all I said was, you know, express yourself, go for wickets. If you want to york people in the knee, well, do it. If you want to bounce people, do it. This is your opportunity. The new ball does quite a bit, and you can get us a couple of breakthroughs. His intention was to pick up wickets and that’s where we were able to create pressure from both ends.”
Virat did not forget to compliment MS Dhoni, who was seen sharing his inputs with the Indian captain.
“His (Dhoni’s) input is obviously always very precise, very helpful at any stage of the game. As I said, even the last game we discussed about the part-timers and he’s the one who mentioned it, and then I thought, yeah, why not. Let’s give bowlers a break. They probably might be feeling the pressure and the part-timers have something to lose, so that actually slowed the game down, also.”
He further added, “Today it was all about asking him whether to keep the slip in there long enough and what does he think of the fields and taking assurance. Obviously you don’t want to feel isolated out there. Yes, you’re making decisions, but the inputs from such experienced players are priceless at any stage of the day.”
Lastly on being asked to comment on the mental toughness of the team after being beaten in the same ground against Sri Lanka a couple of days back, Kohli said, “It was a total team performance today. You have to be honest. You have to sometimes say things that hurt. That’s what I believe in. You have to lay it out in front of them that this is what we did wrong, including me, and we need to take it on the chin and accept it and prove it. That’s why we are chosen among millions of people to play at this level. You have to be good enough to do that for the country and you have to be good enough to bounce back, as well. You can’t do the same mistakes over and over again.
So I think that sort of mindset is really helping all of us to come together as a unit and make things happen. It’s not about asking two, three players to do it.”