Dhoni showers praise on in-form Kohli

Mirpur:

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday lavished praise on Virat Kohli for charting a moral boosting six-wicket win over Bangladesh before the Wednesday's final against Sri Lanka, in the tri-nation series here.

In-form Kohli (102 n.o.) cracked his second ODI century to script India's facile six-wicket victory over the hosts in an otherwise dead rubber at Sher-e-Bangla Stadium.

"He is learning quickly from his mistakes and shaping out well. Early on, in his career, he had committed few mistakes and failed to carry on his innings after a good start. But since the Australia series, he has picked up well which is evident from his performance," Dhoni said after the match.

Dhoni, however, reminded that it was the all-round performance of the team which is responsible for the good show.

"It's not about individuals performing well, but the whole team is contributing. It's a continuous effort from the side that we are playing some good cricket," Dhoni said.

"We got a good start with (Dinesh) Karthik and (Gautam) Gambhir batted extremely well, and then Virat took over and went on to score a hundred. In cricket, it's important that one carries on through the innings and others contribute and support him. And that's what happened today," Dhoni added.

Kohli, who was adjudged man of the match for his brilliant performance, hoped to continue with the rhythm against Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

"I am happy with the way I played today. I was going great and hopes to continue the good run in the final also. I am scoring good runs and converting early ons in the big knocks now, that is a good sign," Kohli said.

"With no dew today, batting became a lot more easier for me and I went on to score. I had committed number of mistakes earlier and played some bad shots or threw away my wicket. But now, I have learnt from those mistakes and getting big scores which is giving me confidence," he added.

Meanwhile, a disappointed Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan blamed themselves for the defeat.

"I thought with no due today we would do better, but that did not happen. We failed to deliver," he said.

However, he praised young Mohammad Mahmudullah and hoped he would improve in future.

"Mahmudullah played brilliantly in the series, he is one of the youngsters to watch. Overall, the youngs have played good in the series. But it is always important to learn from mistakes and do better," Shakib said.