Virat Kohli's Reality Check For Teammates Amid South Africa Series Win Celebrations
India had made only one change for the final game, bringing in Shardul Thakur for Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Kohli said he didn't see merit in resting Jasprit Bumrah, who is nearly irreplaceable in limited-overs cricket.
- Posted by Dattaraj Thaly
- Updated: February 17, 2018 02:21 pm IST
Highlights
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India beat South Africa by 8 wickets in the 6th ODI
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Virat Kohli scored 3 centuries in the series
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Kohli was named man of the match and series
India captain Virat Kohli is not ready to bask in the glory of a 5-1 ODI series win against South Africa. Kohi said he has already "identified areas" which require improvement in the run up to next year's World Cup. "We will definitely sit down as a team and figure out the areas that need improvement. I am not denying that there are no areas that need strengthening. We know as a team we need to improve on a certain things. We have identified those things. It is up to us to discuss and improve on those things going forward and solidifying those areas for ourselves, Kohli said after India won the 6th and final ODI by 8 wickets.
Picture perfect post a 5-1 series victory. Congratulations to the bunch that made it possible #TeamIndia #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/W0Cy2KUeKv
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 16, 2018
India had made only one change for the final game, bringing in Shardul Thakur for Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Kohli said he didn't see merit in resting Jasprit Bumrah, who is nearly irreplaceable in limited-overs cricket.
"There was potentially only one guy that we wanted to experiment with, which was Bhuvi, because his workload was immense. Bumrah is a world-class bowler in this format. You know it's a case of dropping Bumrah being similar to dropping a Shikhar Dhawan or a Rohit Sharma. Nobody will talk about those things. It's very easy to drop the bowlers.
When things are hostile you want to go out there in the middle rather than getting extra sleep in your room. You want to be in the battle and deliver for your team: India captain @imVkohli #SAvIND pic.twitter.com/TcT4aUNgdW
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 17, 2018
"Bhuvi's workload was massive and the two wrist spinners (Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav) deserved to play all the games because of the way they have bowled. They have been one factor that was been in the mind of the opposition the most. So we thought giving rest to Bhuvi was the ideal situation," the 29-year-old said.
While Ajinkya Rahane got a hit out there in the middle, Shreyas Iyer was not required to bat but the skipper said that going forward both will get their fair share of opportunities.
"We wanted to strengthen our middle order so (we are) giving them as many chances as possible. It is important for (Shreyas) Iyer and Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane) as well. It's very important to understand that one knock can be a difference in someone's career. So (we are) giving them one extra opportunity.
"We discussed with the management and with the coach. Just one opportunity opened up where Bhuvi was feeling it in his body and hence the change. We didn't feel like we wanted to change something else,"he added.
(With inputs from PTI)