It was a challenging wicket to bat on: Virat Kohli
The Indian skipper said that for him, the biggest takeaway from this series was the batting performance of Ambati Rayudu and bowling of left-arm seamer Khaleel Ahmed.
M.R. Praveen Chandran
Thiruvananthapuram 01 November, 2018 19:03 IST
After ticking all the boxes in both batting and bowling department, Kohli said that there is still room for improvement in the fielding which will add more consistency to the overall performance of the squad. - AFP
It is not every day that you win a day-night match even before the lights are switched on and the Indian captain Virat Kohli was obviously pleased with the clinical way his team performed on the field to score a comprehensive nine-wicket win over West Indies.
"I was a bit surprised when Holder opted to bat first after winning the toss. I can understand that after a heavy defeat in the fourth match, he didn't want to chase a big score here. We would have bowled first and losing the toss was a blessing in disguise. The wicket had a bit of dampness and was turning in the first innings. Pitch was good and was challenging for the batsmen and there was something in it for the bowlers. It was a good change from the usual trend in the series where batsmen were dominating and there was no room for error for the bowlers. But, having said that, credit should be given to our bowlers who bowled in the right areas," said Virat Kohli.
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"Two things that come to mind is definitely the way Rayudu played and Khaleel bowled. This was something we were looking for a while. We needed someone to back up Bhuvi and Bumrah. As I said, having a left arm seamer gives variation to the attack. Khaleel was very good and Rayudu grabbed his opportunities, batting with maturity, batting with composure. It is always nice to plug in areas we were looking at and these seem to be the take away from the series for me."
After ticking all the boxes in both batting and bowling department, the Indian skipper said that there is still room for improvement in the fielding which will add more consistency to the overall performance of the squad.
``Well, the only thing I can think of now is having a consistent effort in the field with our energy and intensity, especially in high scoring games. If we can be consistent as a fielding side that will give us consistency overall in the skill department. We need to improve our fielding we have spoken to people who need to put extra effort on the field and they are working on it," he said.
Windies vs India
West Indies vs India
India vs Windies