Internet Desk: After a 3-0 whitewash in the Test series, Virat Kohli & Co. repeated the same thing in the limited overs format against Sri Lanka as they bagged the ODI series 5-0 as they beat the hosts by six wickets in the fifth and final ODI in Colombo on Sunday. After thumping the Lankans in a one sided series, Kohli heaped praise on his side. According to the skipper his team is doing well in Tests but they didn’t win three games on a row in the ODIs before this series. His team wants to create a habit of winning the matches in the limited overs game too.
Read More: Centuries from Rohit and Kohli helps India put up a mammoth total against Sri Lanka
“We’re doing very well in Test cricket, ODIs we didn’t win three games in a row before this. So from the last game in West Indies to now we’ve won six, that’s something that we wanted to address which we did in this series. We wanted to be relentless, we wanted to create good habits and make sure that we’re challenging ourselves every time we go out on the park. And that helps you when you’re going through difficult situations. I think that’s one thing that we addressed before this series and it’s really helped us come out here and play how we wanted to play and not let complacency get to us at any stage. Good habits are hard to create and once you create them and then if you take the game easy then the game will find out those things and sort you out on the park. We respect the game and that’s something we decided to do all throughout regardless of what was happening otherwise,” said Kohli at the post match press-conference.
The Men in Blue shuffled their batting order a lot in the series against Sri Lanka. Kohli sees nothing wrong in this. This shuffling in the batting order is making the side more unpredictable to its opponents and by doing this India could become a strong force in future in the lead up to World Cup.
Read More: What did Virat Kohli say after India’s thrilling victory over Sri Lanka?
“We spoke about experimenting with a few guys going up and down the order. We have to try few things. If you go out to play against India you know that there’s going to be one pattern that’s going to be followed. So people can prepare. Once we start playing like this and get more confident with the roles that we’re given then we can be more unpredictable and with the kind of talent that we have in the side if we can be unpredictable as well then it becomes a lethal combination. Teams will find it difficult to set a pattern against us and we’ll always stay ahead of the game or at least try to, and more often then not we’ll end up executing those things. But it’s important to embrace that change and the guys have done it. Some guys will perform and some guys won’t – that goes in limited-overs cricket and it’s not an alarming thing for us, we’ll keep doing these things in the future as well before we reach the World Cup,”.
Kohli looked very happy with the performance of all three spinners in the ODI series.
“These guys were brilliant, all three of them. Axar being a conventional spinner as well. He varied his pace, I think it was outstanding; he didn’t let the batsmen get on top of him. That’s a remarkable thing – when you don’t have any variation in your bowling and you still don’t let guys score – I think it’s the height that really helps him getting that extra bounce and the extra pace he can generate. He’s got a very strong shoulder and people find it difficult to sweep him. Kuldeep and Chahal being wrist spinners will always keep you in the game. I certainly felt that all three of them were pretty spot on with attacking all the time,” said Virat.
The India skipper was in all praise for the maestro of death overs, Jasprit Bumrah. He further added that the management is hopeful that Bumrah will continue his good run against Australia in the home series.
“Jasprit, obviously, he has been our most effective short-format bowler in the last 18 months. He has really worked on his bowling a lot, especially his length ball has picked up more pace. That’s very heartening to see because it never lets the batsmen get settled. It’s not only about yorkers and slower balls any more. He can bowl a good length ball and nick you off as well, which I think is the biggest improvement in his bowling. Credit to him for shaping his game in that way. Getting a man of the series award in the subcontinent as a fast bowler, it’s always a great thing to achieve. He bowled in really good areas and he deserves to be the man of the series. I hope he can continue the same way against Australia,” concluded Kohli.