Australia Vs India, 2nd ODI: Watch Virat Kohli's Unbelievable Six Against Jason Behrendorff – VIDEO Skipper Virat Kohli was on course for his 39th ODI hundred as India inched closer to a series levelling win in the second match against Australia at Adelaide on Tuesday. In the process, the right-handed batsman played some beautiful shots. But the best of the lot was a six in the 34th over against Jason Behrendorff. Kohli hit the ball so hard, it crashed landed in the stand above the long-on boundary. Watch it here: How's this for a shot from Virat? ! Stream this run chase via Kayo here: https://t.co/3fNQjC4Hmh #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/Q9KITbHLTU — cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 15, 2019 Chasing a 299-run target, India got off to breezy start with openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma laying a solid foundation. India lost the first match at Sydney on Saturday by 34 runs. For in-depth, objective and more importantly balanced journalism, Click here to subscribe to Outlook Magazine<doc-sep>The second ODI of a long Indian tour of Australia has just ended. India have managed to level the series in a nail-biting finish. Their most experienced player MS Dhoni is back in form and so is their veteran bowling combination of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami. Most of their players look pumped and charged, and ready for the series decider. The whole country erupts in celebration. There is a sigh of relief as India have managed to save their grace. Celebrations begin. And the predictions for the next match begin straightaway. Bloggers, YouTubers, cricket experts, social media addicts and trollers, all have their lineups ready for the next match. The series decider at Melbourne is still two and a half days away, but we just don’t care. There are various factors Indian captain Virat Kohli will look at before naming the final eleven and the twelfth man for the next game. Most of the batsmen are back in form. Australian batsmen are succeeding in the middle overs. The World Cup is less than ten ODIs away. A rare bilateral ODI series victory in Australia is just one match away. But what is Virat thinking? The second ODI at Adelaide was played on Tuesday and the third one is being played today on Friday. Between Tuesday and Friday, around half a billion people on this planet have prepared multiple XIs for the India-Australia series decider and dozens of combinations for the World Cup squad. But, the mind suddenly starts racing against time as soon as you wake up on Friday morning. If you are awake by 7 AM Indian Standard Time, you have a lot of time to predict Virat’s XI. Things have changed from last night. Because till last night, it was a team backed by cricketing logic, your experience of watching or having played cricket for years and the form factor. But if you have followed Indian cricket only for the last two years, you know that the only squad that Virat Kohli will not pick is the one that you have picked. For the series decider today at Melbourne, Virat Kohli dropped the highest wicket-taker in all international cricket in 2018, a batsman he announced would seal the number four spot in India’s batting lineup and a bowler who just made his ODI debut. He has brought in one batting all-rounder and a utility player. By now, both are looking like utility players, but the real issue is that this is certainly nowhere near any of the squads picked by around half a billion people on this planet. If you are one who has followed Indian cricket in the last twenty years, you have probably watched a lot of matches captained by Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni. You have probably followed other teams too, those captained by Ricky Ponting, Graeme Smith, Stephen Fleming, Mahela Jayawardene, Kane Williamson, Faf Du Plessis and the like. Many of the team changes brought in by hundreds of captains who have led ODI sides in the 21st century were backed by some default. Match-fixing, injuries and retirements forced team changes. Many of these captains backed youngsters and some backed their veterans despite bad form. And some of them made crucial last minute changes, compelling cricket lovers to rebrand them as a genius. And then there is Virat Kohli. You might argue about his captaincy, but he is undoubtedly the leader of the team. One who always leads the team with the bat, always in the thick of things in the field and one who will go all ends to ensure his team is on the winning side. You can doubt his decisions, but you cannot doubt his commitment towards the game. In a year when India were heavily criticized for their poor results in overseas Tests, he managed to provide the country with something no Indian captain could, a Test series win in Australia. He has not led India to a single multi-nation series victory, but he led the team to a thumping first time ODI series victory in South Africa, just months after an all-format clean sweep in Sri Lanka. Over the past two years, Virat Kohli has backed many youngsters. Some have responded quite well, while others have not been able to live up to the expectations. Some of his other strategies, including field placements, deciding to bat or bowl after the toss and the team culture he is trying to promote, have been a subject of debate too. But knowing Virat Kohli, self-belief is one of his most prized attributes. He believes the way his mind, his body and his instincts work and will not allow anyone to mess with that. If, according to him, he is doing something for the betterment of the team, you better not mess with it. His decisions might or might not work out the way he wants them to. But, he certainly won’t stop, and he is most certainly loving the responsibility that comes with being the team captain. As an Indian cricket fan, you must have faith in your captain. He might not function like all your other captains of the past, but he certainly has something different to offer. Four years ago, no Indian captain would have backed three seamers in every overseas Test the way Virat did. If you are one who loves to criticize his captaincy, learn to appreciate it where it is needed. As far as team selection is concerned, do not bother. Pick your squad for the first ODI against New Zealand, pick your squad for India’s home games against Australia and have your World Cup squad ready before all that and the Indian Premier League. But, do not get shocked if you have half a dozen players you never expected or wanted, for that matter, for the team you want to win a World Cup. Make your pick, but at your own peril.<doc-sep>ALSO READ: India beat Australia in 2nd ODI at Adelaide ADELAIDE: India captain Virat Kohli called it an 'MS classic' after Mahendra Singh Dhoni , with sixes that reminded of his heydays, hammered home the point that the finisher in him is still alive.Dhoni slammed an unbeaten 55 off 54 balls after Kohli laid the foundation for India's series-levelling six-wicket victory over Australia in the second ODI with a fluent century. "There is no doubt that he should be a part of this team. Tonight was MS classic. He calculates the game so well. He takes the game till the end, when only he knows what's going on in his mind, and he backs himself to hit those big shots at the end," Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.Kohli could not take his team home this time but Dhoni and Dinesh Karthik (25 off 14) rose to the occasion with an unbeaten 57-run stand, helping India chase down a target of 299 with four balls to spare. "You look for little moments to pump you up, get into the zone, and that's what I was trying to do. I tried to stay as aware as possible in recognising the moment to strike. "I thought those 2-3 overs were the moment, to bring the gap between runs and balls down. When it comes off it looks good. It was a really tough day. "My pants are white with the sweat, the salts coming out. MS was tired as well, fielding for 50 overs and batting as well, it was tough. "Kohli praised seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar for his crucial blows at the death. "We wanted to try and restrict them in the end. I thought they were going to get away from us when Maxy (Glenn Maxwell) and Shaun (Marsh) were in. Getting them in two balls was brilliant. I thought 298 was par on that wicket, with the start they had. "Bhuvi was outstanding to pull things back for us. Vijay Shankar is in the squad, he's an all-rounder, so that gives us an option to play around with - but we'll see how we go. But backing five bowlers and seeing it come off is pleasing as a captain. "Australia rode on Marsh's century to post a challenging target after winning the first ODI. But India's batting might proved too good for the home bowlers.Skipper Aaron Finch acknowledged that. "When you come up like a batting side against India, you know you have to get wickets regularly, and we ran into that man Dhoni as well. Credit to India, they played well. "What we've been working towards is some real solid performances through the middle overs. I'm responsible for the Powerplays, and I've not been coming off. It's a matter of time, I think. "It's not easy when you're not getting runs, but captaincy is separate from personal performance, and you have to be consistent with your actions," Finch said.He lavished praise on Marsh. "Shaun Marsh's was a hell of an innings. He was pretty cooked by the end of it. To get 138 in brutal conditions this afternoon, with that heat, and for us to get 298, was pleasing, but in the end they managed to get past that. "I think it would have been nice to have Jhye (Richardson) bowl right at the end. He's been our best bowler, and we tried to use him earlier to try and take wickets."<doc-sep>
Virat Kohli smashed his 39th one-day international century as India claimed a dramatic six-wicket victory over Australia at a sweltering Adelaide Oval on Tuesday to level up the three-match series at 1-1. Skipper Kohli contributed of 104 of his side's runs as they successfully chased down their victory target of 299 for the loss of four wickets to send the series into a decider on Friday at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, clearly suffering in the heat, smashed a huge six to bring the scores level and reach his half century before scoring the winning run with four balls to spare. Virat Kohli hit a swashbuckling century as India claimed a six-wicket victory over Australia Kohli's 104 spearheaded India's charge to victory and levelled the series 1-1 with Australia 'Very pleased,' Kohli said afterwards. 'It was a really tough day. M.S. in the end was tired as well. We need a good day's rest, a good day's travel and then we'll recuperate and get ready for the MCG.' Shaun Marsh had earlier scored a sparkling 131, his second century in three outings in the format, to drive the hosts to 298 for nine in their 50 overs in the heat of the afternoon when temperatures soared well above the 40 degree Celsius mark. Kohli took over under the lights on what remained a muggy evening and took his century off 108 balls, pumping his first towards the dressing room after taking two runs to square leg to reach the milestone. In all, he hit five fours and two sixes in his 112-ball innings but left disappointed after smacking a Jhye Richardson delivery straight to Glenn Maxwell on the deep midwicket boundary in the 44th over. Dhoni (55 not out) had played within himself as he kept Kohli company in a partnership of 82 but hit a six for his first boundary soon after his captain departed and added 57 with Dinesh Karthik (25 not out) to get the tourists over the line. Kholi was backed up by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who hit an unbeaten 55 for India Dhoni appeared to struggle in the heat, despite his efforts in helping India to victory 'I think we hung on really well,' said Australia captain Aaron Finch. 'But when you come up against a side that's in form like India ... you know you have to keep taking wickets and when the old pro Dhoni is there at the end it's tough.' Finch won the toss for the second successive match but that was as far as his luck went and he departed for six as he did on Saturday when the hosts won the series opener in Sydney by 34 runs. The hosts have made a habit of making starts in recent matches and Usman Khawaja had put 21 runs on the board before being brilliantly run-out by a direct hit from Ravindra Jadeja at cover-point. Shaun Marsh had earlier scored a sparkling 131 as Australia set India a total of 299 to win Marsh and Glenn Maxwell put on 94 runs off 66 balls for the sixth wicket to accelerate the scoring in a partnership that took the top order batsman to his seventh ODI century. Maxwell blasted 48 off 37 balls before he holed out to Karthik at long off the bowling of seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who finished with figures of 4-45. That triggered an Australia collapse with Marsh lasting only two more balls before becoming Kumar's third victim and the home side able to add only three more runs at a cost of four wickets.