Reliving Virat Kohli- The Captain

[Neptune]

This is some quality work. Good job

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

So talking about the 2017 Champions Trophy, I honestly think that we still had a good tournament. I think making the Final of an ICC tournament is always going to be difficult and we could see why a team like England faltered in the Semi-final even though when they were playing at home and the batting strength they have. I think nobody does blame Eoin Morgan for it because in tournaments like this such things are bound to happen. The one who performs better on the day goes on to win. Look when we see India's preparation in built up to this tournament how many matches did we play since 2015 World Cup ? 3 against Bangladesh, 6 against Zimbabwe, 5 each against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and finally 3 matches against England. Of these 21 matches only 5 of them in Overseas conditions and that too not against a full strength side. But even we did not have any bowling attack on that tour of Australia that I am talking about. And therefore we went on to lose that series 4-1 even after scoring 300+ in four of those matches. Remaining 9 matches away from home weren't even quality oppositions. Honestly speaking we weren't even tested enough but still we went on to Final talks about the strength of the team and their attitude at large.

Let us now talk about the Indian side, we had the following squad for the tournament,

Spoiler: India's CT'17 Squad

Player| Role| Age
Rohit Sharma|Vice-Captain and Opener| 30
Shikhar Dhawan| Opener| 31
Ajinkya Rahane| Reserve Opener| 28
Virat Kohli| Captain and Middle order Batsman| 28
Yuvraj Singh| Middle Order Batsman| 35
Kedar Jadhav| Middle Order Batsman and Part-time spinner| 32
Dinesh Karthik| Middle Order Batsman| 31
MS Dhoni| Wicket-Keeper| 35
Ravindra Jadeja| Bowling All-rounder| 28
Hardik Pandya| Batting All-rounder| 23
Ravichandran Ashwin| Off-spinner| 30
Jasprit Bumrah| Pace Bowler| 23
Mohammad Shami| Pace Bowler| 27
Bhuvneshwar Kumar| Swing Bowler| 26
Umesh Yadav| Express Pace Bowler| 29

The top 3 looks solid, middle order is experienced but let us have an in-depth analysis of the situation. Karthik wasn't in the team for close to 4 years prior to the tournament, Yuvraj had played just 1 series in last 3 years prior to the tournament while Jadhav and Hardik were inexperienced to play in Overseas conditions. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were completely worn out in our home season playing close to 20 Test matches plus Jadeja played the IPL while Ashwin went in for a surgery. So you just can't expect these guys to completely give themselves out in this tournament. Also, Rohit Sharma came back from a surgery just prior to the IPL so there as well seemed to be a problem. If we talk Bumrah, he still hadn't realised his potential back then. Bhuvi has never looked to be a wicket taking option in ODIs. Back then he just relied on his swing and accuracy and knuckle balls hardly work out in England. Umesh Yadav have always been expensive in ODIs while Shami wasn't in full fitness. Finally when we come to Dhoni, he was just a shadow of his yester years. And I remember he just batted once in that tournament prior to the Final and there he had done well. On paper our squad was right up there but in actual terms we went under-prepared for this tournament. I think giving a Captain just one series to prepare himself for an ICC tournament is a touch too less and hence Kohli was actually an inexperienced ODI Captain not having much of idea about the complexities of this format.

When we talk about the selection issue in the squad then it is BCCI who gave the squad to Kohli and it wasn't Kohli who asked for these players. The middle order issue ? I think it existed since 2014 itself. And the caution at the top of the order wasn't the approach brought in by Kohli but it all started when Dhoni as Captain won the 2013 Champions Trophy. So in my view probably it doesn't seem right for Kohli to takeover the entire blame for this loss in the Final. Although I do agree he wasn't good at making on the spot decisions. But again wasn't he Captaining in an ICC tournament in a complex format like the ODIs that updates itself time and again ?

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Chapter 18- The Dominance over the Lankans
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After the Champions Trophy 2017, India played in the Carribean where they went on to win the 5-match ODI series 3-1 but lost the one-off T20I series after they fell short by a handful of runs in their first innings. Evin Lewis scored his 2nd century against India in T20Is. The Indian side then toured Sri Lanka for a tour consisting of 3 Tests, 3 ODI & a One-off T20I.

The first Test match was played at Galle. The last time India played a Test match in Galle it was Kohli's first Test series as a full-time Test Captain. A match in which Dinesh Chandimal took on the India bowlers in the 2nd innings to score a quick-fire 160 being close to a run-a-ball and even went on to lose the match courtesy Rangana Herath's 6-wicket haul. But this time Chandimal wasn't available with the Lankans as he was down with pneumonia due to which Herath took over the Captaincy for this match. Hardik Pandya made his Test debut for India while Danushka Gunathalika for Sri Lanka. India won the toss on what looked like a flat-surface and elected to bat first. Abhinav Mukund continued to open for India as he did in the last series against Australia although at home. India started of all gun blazing scoring close to 5 runs per over initially. Sri Lanka however slowed down the run-rate with some disciplined bowling and dismissed Mukund for just 12. Pujara joined Shikhar Dhawan out in the middle at the score of 27/1 in 7.3 overs. Dhawan all of a sudden started counter attacking the helpless Sri Lankan bowling attack and reached as half-century off just 62 balls. India went into lunch on Day 1 at 115/1. Dhawan continued to dominate the bowling in the post Lunch session as he reached the triple figure mark in 115 balls. Pujara also scored his 50 off 80 balls. Pujara unlike Dhawan was trying to take his own time in the middle and was holding the other end to have wickets in the bank, but actually speaking he was playing his natural game just like Dhawan. Dhawan went on to score 190 off just 168 balls!!! Nuwan Pradeep was the man who stopped this carnage from Dhawan's end and send him back to the dressing room. India at Tea were 280/2 credits to a 253-run partnership for the 2nd wicket from Pujara and Dhawan. Just few overs after the Tea break Pradeep bounced out Kohli off a bouncer which initially was turned down by the umpire but a tactical review from Herath helped Sri Lanka's cause. Rahane and Pujara batted out rest of the day as India managed a dominating 399/3 on Day 1. Pujara reached his century and went on to scored 153 and it was Nuwan Pradeep yet again troubling Pujara with his pace and bounce getting him out caught behind by Niroshan Dickwella the Lankan wicket-keeper. Rahane also reached his 50 which was only his 3rd fifty since England tour of India in 2016. Ashwin missed his half-century by just 3 runs batting at 6. Saha scored 16 runs. Hardik Pandya went on to score a quick-fire fifty on debut as he along with Shami scored at a rate more than a run-a-ball. Hardik was the last man to be dismissed on 50 runs with India putting up 600 runs on the board but Nuwan Pradeep still managed to take 6 wickets for 132 runs in his 31 overs. 600 on the flattest wicket is a tough ask especially on a pitch that is expected to turn later in the match with Ashwin and Jadeja to bowl on that surface. To make things worser Herath injured himself and wasn't going to bat in rest of the match. Sri Lanka were reduced to 68/3 with Umesh Yadav getting a wicket while a couple to Mohammed Shami. Matthews and Tharanga put on 57 for the 4th wicket before Tharanga ran himself out. Mukund caught a blinder at slips off Ashwin's bowling to dismiss Dickwella. Dilruwan Perera and Matthews managed to show a good resistance as Perera scored 92 while Angelo Mathews with 89 runs. Sri Lanka were bowled out on 291 and had it not been for Perera and Matthews then they hardly would've managed 250. In the 2nd innings Dhawan got out for 14 while Pujara managed just 15 runs. Mukund went on to score 81. Kohli scored his 17th Test century. India declared on 240/3. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 245 chasing 550. Ashwin and Jadeja took 3 wickets each, while 1 each for Shami and Umesh Yadav. Danushka Gunathalika was injured and hence didn't bat.

From Galle now the series moved to the historic SSC in Colombo. KL Rahul made his Test comeback. Left-arm spinner Malinda Pushpakumara made his Test debut for Sri Lanka. India won the toss on a slow turning surface and elected to bat first. Dhawan was dismissed early unlike the last match where he scored 190. This time he just managed 35. KL Rahul ran himself out on 57. What followed was an incredible partnership between an in-form Pujara and a slightly out of touch Ajinkya Rahane. They put together 223 for the 4th wicket. Pujara scored his 2nd hundred in the series. Rahane too scored 132 which was his first hundred in about 16 innings (9 Test matches) which surely had to be a big relief for him and the Indian batting line-up. Ravindra Jadeja went on to score 70 off 85. India managed 622/9 dec. Sri Lankan batsman looked clueless even with the presence of skipper Chandimal. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 183 as Ashwin took 5/69 off his 16.4 overs. India asked Sri Lanka to follow on. What followed was a few tiring sessions for the Indian bowlers as Sri Lanka showed some solid defence and scored runs on merit. Dimuth Karunaratne scored 141 while Mendis scored 110. Sri Lanka reached 302/4 at Lunch on Day 4. It was only one result that was looking possible was an Indian win so this was a good Test of patience for the Indian bowlers and an indicator of the discipline the Indian bowlers had. Sri Lanka lost wickets at regular intervals post Lunch and were bowled out for 390 as they lost the match by an innings and 53 runs. Jadeja bowled close to 40 overs and managed 5/152. India bowled around 117 overs.

As India had won their 2nd consecutive series and the Sri Lankan losing some of their key players along with the vast gulf between the sides India looked all favourites to achieve a whitewash. The last match of the series was played at Pallekele. Pallekele is a place where the seamers get something out of the surface as opposed to the pitches that are slow and support spin. There is always some wind blowing across the ground with some bounce on offer. India won the toss for the third consecutive time in the series and went on to bat first. The Indian openers were off to a dominating start. Dhawan and Rahul together put on 188 for the first wicket. Rahul scored 85 but was dismissed soon after. Dhawan scored his 2nd century of the series few overs later. He too was dismissed soon after on 119. Pujara was dismissed for just 8 runs. With 3 quick wickets Sri Lanka were back in the contest. In walked skipper Virat Kohli to steady the Indian ship at the score of 229/3. Rahane got out for yet another low score. India collapsed from 188/0 to 264/4. Kohli and Ashwin put together another 32 runs before Kohli got out to Sandakan for 42 edging into the slips. Hardik Pandya walked at the score of 296/5. Just at the close of play Ashwin got out for 31. India finished Day 1 at 329/6. Things were looking a lot better for Sri Lanka as compared to first 2 Tests which was a bit of positive for them. Couple overs into Day 2 Saha got out to Vishwa Fernando caught at gully. It looked like India would get bundled out under 350. Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep together put on 62 with Pandya dominating and was almost nearing his half century. In one of the overs bowled by Malinda Pushpakumara, Pandya scored 28 runs hitting 4 sixes and a boundary. He reached his century in just about 86 balls. Hardik along with Umesh Yadav put on 66 for the 10th wicket. India scored 487 all out. Sri Lanka got to a disastrous start as they lost 4 wickets for just 38 runs. Chandimal scored 48 and Dickwella scored 29 runs. Rest of the side failed to show any resistence as Sri Lanka were bowled out for 135. Kuldeep Yadav took 4/40. There were four ducks in the Sri Lankan innings. Sri Lanka were asked to follow on. Chandimal 36 and Matthews 35 showed a better resistance. With an Indian victory in sight Dickwella decided to take on the Indian bowlers but managed only 41. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 181 runs. Ashwin provided the final blow to the Lankans in the series as he took 4/69. India won by a massive margin of innings and 171 runs which was the best margin of victory in Test Cricket for India that time.

Virat Kohli became the first Indian Captain to win 2 Test series in Sri Lanka. India for the first time won more than 3 matches in a Test series after 1968/69 tour of New Zealand which India won 3-1. The series saw a pure dominance of a strong India team over a weak Lankan team. The series proved that India were the best Asian team now amongst its counterparts. Although it also indicated the gulf of difference between the sides. Sri Lanka were absolutely down played in the last 2 Tests with an Indian victory under the radar in just 3 days. And this dominance was the result of aggressive brand of Cricket that Virat Kohli expected of this side and this side didn't fail to his expectations.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Chapter 19- The rise in limited Overs format and the winning streak

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After the Test series in Sri Lanka, it was time to switch to the limited overs format. India were to play Sri Lanka for a 5-match ODI series followed by a one-off T20I.

The first of the 5 ODIs was to be played at the Dambulla. This was the same venue where Virat Kohli had made his International debut for India 10 years year down the line and also the venue where India had won Asia Cup in 2010. In all a lucky when for India. On a dry flat pitch with even bounce India won the toss and elected to field first. A combination of Bhuvi and Hardik opened the bowling for India. The reason maybe to use Bumrah in the middle overs and at the death to get some important wickets and restrict the scoring. Sri Lanka made full use of the first Powerplay and close to 6 an over. It all showed as Bhuvi and Hardik's inefficiency as wicket takers in One day Cricket. Kohli brought out his weapon in his IPL team Chahal into the attack and very first over Danushka Gunathalika attempted a reverse sweep to get caught at third man for 35. Few overs later Kedar Jadhav dismissed Dickwella for 64. Although with the score being 139/2 in just 25 overs, 300 looked to be on cards. But instead the Lankans kept on losing their wickets. 25 overs of spin resulting in 7 wickets for just 120 runs. Axar Patel being the pick of the bowlers taking 3/34 off his 10 overs. Bumrah also got a couple of wickets. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 216. During India's batting the only time Sri Lanka celebrated was when Rohit Sharma casually failed to drag his bat inside the crease to a direct hit while setting for a run. Dhawan went beserk and went on to score 132 off 90 balls and Kohli also scored 80 off 72 balls. This resulted in a game of sheer dominance as India won by 9 wickets inside 30 overs. The woes from the Test series continued to hurt Sri Lanka.

Next couple of matches were held at Pallekele. In the first of the 2 matches India won another toss and elected to field first. The pitch was similar to Dambulla but slightly slower and a slight turn on offer. Sri Lanka had been scoring at a good rate just under 6 before collapsed from 70/1 to 125/5. The wickets hampered their run-rate. Angelo Mathews and Milinda Siriwardana got to the rebuilding phase and took Sri Lanka to a respectable 212/5 before Siriwardana got dismissed for a run-a-ball 58. Mathews fell soon after. Bumrah managed to take 4 wickets and gave away 43 from his 10 overs. Sri Lanka got to a decent total of 236/8. Rain delay reduced India's target to 231 in 47 overs. India began aggressively yet again and put on 109 for the first wicket in just 15 overs. Rohit Sharma was dismissed lbw on 54 off Akila Dhananjaya's bowling. It opened the floodgates for an epic collapse as India were reduced to 131/7. Sri Lanka would've been over the moon as they would've sensed their first victory of the tour. But MS Dhoni and Bhuvi's resilience saw India home with 2 overs to spare. Dhoni scored 47 and Bhuvi went on to score his first half century in ODI Cricket. This showed the fighting spirit of India and their quality of how they don't go down without a fight. But there was a worrying aspect that India still had their problems with their middle order.

Since Tharanga was injured Kapugedera took over the Captaincy. India won another toss and elected to bowl first. Sri Lanka lost early wickets and were reduced to 2/28. They recovered and managed to get to the 100 run mark. Mathews and Thirimanne had a decent partnership of 38 runs followed by Thirimanne and Kapugedera of 21 runs but they kept on losing wickets. Thirimanne managed to score 80 runs (the highest by a Sri Lankan in this series). Bumrah took his first 5-fer as he finished 2/27 in his 10 overs. Sri Lanka scored 217/9 in their 50 overs. India got on to a nervy started as they scored 61/4 in their first 15 overs. Dhananjaya once again took a couple of wickets but calmness on the part of Dhoni and Rohit Sharma saw India scored 218 quite comfortably. India won by 6 wickets with Rohit scoring 124 and Dhoni 64. India won their 5th consecutive bilateral ODI series in a row.

The last 2 matches were to be played at the iconic R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Another new Captain for Sri Lanka this time in Malinga as Kapugedera was injured. On a surface with slightly more pace and even bounce India won the toss and elected to bat first. India got to a a flying start after losing Dhawan for just 4. Kohli took on the attack over the Lankans from the word go. Both Kohli and Rohit Sharma scored thier hundreds in an incredible partnership of 219 runs. Kohli scored 131 off 96 balls and Rohit 104 off 88 balls. Dhoni scored 49 and Manish Pandey with a 50. Hardik also scored a quick-fire knock of 19 runs. It seemed like India had found answers to their middle order. India scored 375/5 in their 50 overs. The Indian bowlers were too good as Sri Lanka got bowled out for 207 runs. Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya took 2 wickets each with Pandya slightly on the higher side. India won by 168 runs.

Sri Lanka were defending a 5-0 series loss now in their last match. Sri Lanka won the toss and got off to a similar start which they had in previous 3 matches. But this time Thirimanne and Mathews put their hand up and scored 122 for the 4th wicket. Both of them managed a half-century before Bhuvi wrecked the lower order of Sri Lanka with a maiden 5-fer. Sri Lanka just managed 238 but this was their highest total in the series. Showed the dominance that India had over the Lankans throughout. India lost Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane early. Kohli went on to score his 30th ODI Century as he managed 110. Manish Pandey scored 36 and Jadhav with a 63 at a healthy strike rate. India won by 6 wickets. The Lankans failed to save themselves from a 5-0. This was the most dominating win by any team against Sri Lanka in ODIs in their history at their home.

The format switched over to the T20I now. India won the toss and as usual elected to field first. Sri Lanka got off to a dominating start and scored 60 runs in their first 6 overs mainly due to Niroshan Dickwella's cameo and some aggressive batting from Dilshan Munaweera. India did manage to dismiss both openers in Tharanga and Dickwella. Munaweera soon reached his 50 but got out trying to slog a short delivery from Kuldeep Yadav over mid-wicket and in the process lost his bat and got bowled. What followed was some wickets in bulk as Sri Lanka were reduced to a 113/6 in 14 overs. Some big shots by Ashan Priyanjan in the death overs took Sri Lanka to a 170/7 in their 20 overs. Chahal took 3/43 in 4 overs, Kuldeep Yadav with an economical 2/20 in 4 overs while Bumrah and Bhuvi bowled decent spells of 1/38 & 1/36 respectively in their 4 overs. A very competitive finish at the end. India had a slow but a decent start making 43 runs in the Powerplay losing both Rohit and Rahul. With Kohli still at the crease India looked in a driver's seat. Kohli went on to score 82 off 54 balls and Manish Pandey scored 51 runs. India won by 6 wickets and finished the tour with a 9-0 margin winning each of the matches across formats.

Now after Sri Lanka tour it was time for a home series against Australia which included 5 ODIs & 3 T20Is. India looked favourites to win this one and after an incredibly dominating tour India were all fired up to face any formidable opponent.

The first ODI was played at Chennai. Shikhar Dhawan was rested for the series hence it was Ajinkya Rahane who opened with Rohit Sharma. Rahane had scored 3 consecutive 50s against West Indies playing in the Carribean 3 months earlier. India won the toss and elected to bat first. India got off to a worst possible start as they were 11/3!!! All 3 wickets were taken by Nathan Coulter-Nile who had an impressive IPL season too. Rohit Sharma along with Kedar Jadhav started to steady the Indian ship and put on 53 for the 4th wicket. Rohit Sharma trying to take on Marcus Stoinis lack of pace lost his wicket for 28. Jadhav too got out on 40 trying to pull a back off the length delivery from Stoinis and was caught at short leg at 87/5. Hardik Pandya defying all odds batted aggressively and put the pressure back on the Aussies. MS Dhoni supported him well and held the other end. Hardik and Dhoni took India past 200. Hardik got out for 83 runs off 66 balls trying to hit Zampa for the 4th six of his bowling. Dhoni took on the attack once Hardik got out. Dhoni got out for 79 runs of 88 balls to Faulkner. Bhuvneshwar Kumar played a useful knock scoring 32 off 30 balls. India scored 281/7. Rain reduced Australia's innings to 21 overs having them chase 164 runs. Australia lost wickets at a regular intervals and could only manage 137/9. Only Maxwell and Faulkner could put up a fight. Bhuvi-Bumrah combined took 2/45 in 8 overs. Pandya and Kuldeep got 2 wickets each. Yuzvendra Chahal took 3/30 in 5 overs. India won by 26 runs (D/L method).

The second match was played at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata. A crowd of close to 50k had gathered to watch this exciting contest. India won another toss and once again elected to bat first to be able to test their batting line-up. The runs were difficult to come by as Nathan Coulter-Nile bowled an impressive opening spell. Coulter-Nile got the price wicket of Rohit Sharma who was caught by Coulter-Nile himself on the follow through. India still managed 44/1 in Powerplay 1. Rahane and Kohli both reached their 50s and India had started to gain and upper hand on the Aussies. Two quick wickets brought Australia back into the match but Kohli and Kedar Jadhav ensured that India weren't troubled much by it. Kedar Jadhav got out bowled to Nathan Coulter-Nile on the score of 186/3 scoring a run-a-ball 24. Coulter-Nile then dismissed Kohli on 92 which was a rare sight considering Kohli's conversion rate. This resulted in a collapse as India were bowled out on 252 in their 50 overs. Bhuvi and Hardik scored 20 runs each and Bumrah also scored useful 10 runs edging a couple for boundaries. Coulter-Nile and Kane Richardson got 3 wickets each with Richardson slightly on the expensive side. Pat Cummins also bowled an economical spell of 1/34 in his 10 overs. Australia lost both their openers to Bhuvneshwar Kumar who was bowling an impressive spell of swing bowling. Skipper Steve Smith and Travis Head put on 71 for the 3rd wicket. Yuzvendra Chahal came into the attack and dismissed Head and Maxwell in quick succession. Maxwell did manage to hit a couple of sixes to Kuldeep Yadav as he scored 14. Smith got out soon after on the score of 138/4 scoring 59 as he tried to hit Hardik Pandya over the top and got out caught on the boundary. Australia had now lost half their side with 115 runs to get in 20 overs which still wasn't a tough ask. But Kuldeep Yadav got a hat-trick and pulled the match back in India's favour. Marcus Stoinis scored 62 runs but it was never going to be enough as Bhuvi dismissed Richardson from the other end as Australia were bowled out for 202. Bhuvi finished with some very impressive figures of 3/9 in his 6.1 overs. India won by 50 runs and took a 2-0 lead in the series.

The next match was played at Indore. Australia finally won the toss and elected to bat first on a very flat pitch with the ground just having 58 meter boundary. Australia started off aggressively and scored 70 for the 1st wicket as Warner was dismissed on 42 bowled by Hardik Pandya's off-cutter. Finch and Smith batted aggressively and reached their half-centuries. Finch started to shift gear ans started to smash some big sixes around the Holkar Stadium in Indore. It seemed Australia would easily go past 330-340. Aaron Finch soon scored his 100. Kuldeep Yadav came for his second spell and dismissed Finch for 124 inviting him to hit a slog sweep as he was caught at deep mid-wicket by Kedar Jadhav. Few overs later he also dismissed the Australian Captain Smith for 63. Australia just managed 293/6 even after being 234/2 in 40 overs. This was mainly due to some wonderful death bowling from Bhuvi and Bumrah who were proving to be very impressive pacers for India. The big advantage India were having was their 2 leg-spinners in Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal who were no much concerned giving few extra runs as long as they got wickets which was lacked by previous spin bowling pair of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. India got off to a very good start with Rohit Sharma hitting some beautiful sixes while Rahane playing in his very own way of calmness. It was just class batting from this opening pair as they put on 139 in 21 overs for the first wicket. It was again Nathan Coulter-Nile who got an opening for Australia in the wickets column as he had done that throughout the series. This was proving to be a really good series for Coulter-Nile. After Rohit was dismissed for 71, Rahane was dismissed lbw for 70 off Pat Cummins. Kohli and Jadhav followed soon after scoring 28 & 2 respectively. India were all of a sudden 206/4 in 36 overs. Hardik Pandya played yet another innings of substance as he scored 78 off just 72 hitting 5 boundaries and 4 sixes being destructive mainly against spinners. Manish Pandey scored 36 as India won by 5 wickets with 13 balls to spare. India won their 6th consecutive bilateral ODI series in a row as they now had gained an unassailable 3-0 lead in the 5-match series.

Australia were still confident enough to win the remaining matches in the series to salvage their pride. Before the 4th ODI match which was meant to be Warner's 100th ODI he went on to say that Australia would try and bat a little more aggressively especially he himself. He kept his word as he went on to score an impressive century. Australia put on 231 runs for the first wicket in just 35 overs with Warner scoring 124 and Finch scoring 94. The middle order struggled apart from Peter Handscomb who scored 43 off 30 balls. Australia finished 334/5 and for the first time had put the Indian batting under pressure in this series. India did have an opening partnership of 106 runs but lost 3 wickets in quick succession to be 147/3 losing Rohit, Rahane & Kohli. This was probably the best opportunity for the middle order to deliver under pressure and be confident about themselves. Hardik Pandya went on to score 41 runs off 40 balls and Kedar Jadhav also scored 67 of 69 but was a touch too slow. The lower order failed to chase it down as India fell short by 21 runs.

The final match of the seris was being played at Nagpur. Australia once again won the toss and elected to bat first. The probably failed to access the conditions considering it was a dry pitch on a humid day with dew factor coming into play in the 2nd innings. It was a sort of stop start innings for Australia as they just managed 242/9 in their 50 overs. This time it was Axar Patel who took 3/38 in his 10 overs. It all spoke about the versatility in the Indian bowling as they managed to take wickets match after match to maitain pressure on the Australian side. Another 100 run partnership between Rohit Sharma and Rahane killed the hopes of Australian side in this match. Rohit Sharma went on to score the first hundred by an Indian batsman in this series as he made 124. Rahane too scored 61 and a decent display of batting by Kohli as he managed to score 39. He would've been disappointed since he didn't manage to score much in the series but would've taken it anyway considering India had won the series 4-1. They went on to win this match by 7 wickets with 7 overs to spare. A massive win in the context of this match. A 4-1 result was a very good result and certainly something that sides fail to achieve especially against Australia irrespective of the conditions. But actually India were a side good enough to win this series 5-0 but they failed to do well with the ball at crucial stages in the 4th ODI and that batting approach by the middle order was proving to be a sort of limitation to India's success. India however did achieve another record as they managed to have a 9 match winning streak in ODIs (the best in their ODI history).

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Chapter 20- T20Is against Australia and the New Zealand series

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After winning the ODI series 4-1 against Australia, India were confident of ending the series by winning the T20Is as well.

The first of the 3-match series was played at home town of MS Dhoni in Ranchi at the JSCA International Stadium Complex. India won the toss and elected to field first. Bhuvneshwar Kumar started off the bowling for India bowling to the aggressive David Warner who also happens to be his IPL Captain playing for SRH. Warner straight away tried to put pressure on him by scoring a couple of boundaries but the knuckle ball did the trick for Bhuvi as Warner inside edge one back on the stumps to get out for 8. Bumrah consistently beat the edge of Aaron Finch and Maxwell in the next over but the Aussies attacked the weak link in Indian bowling in Hardik Pandya and scored 49/1 in their first 6 overs. Kohli turned towards his strike bowler in Yuzvendra Chahal as he got out Glenn Maxwell for 17. Chahal has always done quite well against Maxwell by consistently getting him out and this was the fourth instance in this series. Couple overs later Kuldeep Yadav dismissed Aaron Finch out bowled for 42 runs who looked to be Australia's best batsman that day. Australia managed 76/3 in their 10 overs. Kuldeep also dismissed Moises Henriques for 8 in his next over while Pandya dismissed Travis Head. Australia were now struggling at 89/5 in 14 overs. Paine and Dan Christian got some quick runs before Bumrah dismissed Paine for 17 off 16 balls. The same over Nathan Coulter-Nile got out bowled by Bumrah off a Yorker so 2 bowled in one over pushed Australia further down the cliff. Dan Christian ran himself out, miseries were all around the Aussies now as they were 118/7 in 18.4 overs. Rain stopped the play with the play being almost called off but the ground staff somehow managed to get 6 overs under way with India having to chase 49. Rohit Sharma hit a six followed by a boundary and got out but it set the pace for the innings. Aussies with the wet ball looked ineffective as India won by 9 wickets. As a result of this match India became no.1 team in all 3 formats of the ICC rankings. This has happened for the first time in their history

The 2nd T20I was played at the newly built Barsapura Stadium in Guwahati. For a change Australia won the toss and elected to field first. So this was basically an opportunity for the Indians to test their middle order. Like how the last match began for Australia, India too scored 2 back to back boundaries in the first over coming of Rohit Sharma's bat. But debutant Jason Behrondorff struck back as he pitched the next ball on full length and he got out Rohit lbw. A delivery similar to that of Mohammad Amir bowled to him in the CT'17 Final. Kohli got out for a 2nd ball duck in the same over caught & bowled. India 8/2 after the first over. In his next 2 overs Behrondorff got 2 wickets, India in further trouble as they were now 27/4!!! In walked MS Dhoni to join hands with Kedar Jadhav. Jadhav counter attacked Australia and scored close to a run-a-ball. Dhoni struggled his way to 16-ball 13 before he got out to Zampa stumped (the first time he got stumped in T20Is) as India were 60/5 in 10 overs. Next over of Zampa he got out Jadhav bowled on 27(27). Bhuvi got out trying to upper cut Coulter-Nile and was caught by Henriques. Hardik scored 25(23) while Kuldeep scored 16(19) which took India to 118 in 20 overs. It was a poor batting effort as none of the players took enough risk which caused pressure of scoring quick runs due to which they lost their wickets. It was arguable that the Aussies didn't give much freedom to India to be able to score runs but failing to score runs on flat pitches isn't excusable to say the least. India kept it extremely tight and dismissed both the openers as Australia were 13/2 in 3 overs. Bumrah was given an extra over and he was left dissapointed as Kohli dropped a dolly from Henriques. Both Henriques and Head took enough time to settle in and played safe Cricket throughout to claim an easy win over the Indians. Australia won by 8 wickets in just 15.3 overs and levelled series. India lost their no.1 spot in T20Is which was reclaimed by Pakistan since India lost this match. They also lost their no.1 ranking in ODIs to South Africa who won comprehensively by 10 wickets chasing 260+ and won the series against Bangladesh. The last match had to be called off without even having the toss due to wet outfield.

Now it was time to switch back to ODIs for a series against the Kiwis. The Kiwis gave the Indian a tough time in the ODIs apart from the last match as seen in earlier Chapter

India won the last match of the series by 190 runs with Amit Mishra taking 5/18. New Zealand were bowled out for 79.

The first of the 3 match series was played at a decent batting strip at the Wankhede in Mumbai with some great weather on offer with wind blowing across the stadium coming from the Arabian sea. It was a full house in Mumbai. India won the toss and elected to bat first. India lost Dhawan early as he tried to cut a delivery from Trent Boult due to the pressure created by the dot balls. Rohit Sharma too threw it away after a very good start scoring 20 off 18 hitting a couple of sixes but he tried an T20 heave kind of a shot to Trent Boult missing the ball for about 4 times in 7 deliveries as he was out lbw. Surprisingly it was Kedar Jadhav who was batting a 3 this time probably because of the way he batted at Bengaluru in the series against Australia? Although Kedar Jadhav did not have much to offer this time as he got out on 12 caught & bowled to Santner. Dinesh Karthik walked in a 5 at the score of 71/3 and it was a good opportunity for him to secure his place back in the side with an innings of substance. Both Kohli and DK rotated the strike well with both having a strike rate of close to 80 or more in the middle overs. Kohli soon reached his half-century in 62 balls hitting 4 fours and a six. Dinesh Karthik hit a lofted pull shot to Southee but mistimed it hitting it straight to Munro at fine-leg who almost dropped it as Karthik scored 37 off 47 balls. A promising start but another opportunity which was wasted by DK. A 144/4 New Zealand were well within control of not conceding much. This has been a feature of Kane Williamson's Captaincy. He tends to block the scoring areas of the batsman to keep them under check and makes them do something out of the ordinary. He did this quite impressively to the former Indian Captain MS Dhoni as Dhoni just managed to tuk it around scoring 25 off 42. Before Dhoni could do the damage Boult dismissed him having him caught at point. Kohli was fighting a lone battle but he was up for the challenge and he took up the task of putting India in a commanding position. He did it well scoring 122 off 125. Hardik scored some 16 runs while Bhuvi gave Kohli all the support in the world as he scored 26 off 15 hitting a couple of boundaries and sixes. Although India just managed 280/8 which was a fighting total on a flat Wankhede pitch. The responsibility now rested on the bowlers to cover up the lack of runs from the batsman. New Zealand put on 48 for the first wicket before a good bouncer from Bumrah had Munro caught by DK at short cover with a difficult catch coming from high up in the night sky. It seemed like Kohli was no less than Williamson in applying pressure as he did something similar to what Kane Williamson did in India's innings. Chinaman from Kuldeep Yadav outfoxed the ever so calm Kane Williamson. Guptill also got out to a bouncer from Hardik in similar fashion of that of Munro. Things now looked good for India. Although it was something that actually took India away from the game since New Zealand's best batsman since 2015 World Cup Ross Taylor had joined Tom Latham at the crease. Both of them clearly dominated Indian spin twins Kuldeep and Chahal not giving them any wickets. They time and again hit a slog sweep to these spinners hitting sixes and boundaries at will. Taylor trying to finish things off quickly got out on 95. Latham went on to score a 103. New Zealand easily won the match by 6 wickets with an over to spare courtesy a 200 run partnership from Taylor and Latham. This was 3rd best ever partnership by a touring team in India in the last decade and such was the dominance of the Kiwis. A side that had given India a run for all their money from time and again since the 2016 WT20 in India where they were dismissed for 79 chasing 127 in 20 overs.

So after 2 back to back losses in the limited overs format India for the first time after a while were under pressure in a series played at their home. They now needed to win both their matches to win this series. From Mumbai now the series moved to Pune. Pune also generally offers a similar track as compared to Mumbai but with more of lateral movement and similar bounce. New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat first. It was Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah pair to start off the bowling for India. New Zealand never really look settled to the new ball bowlers of India as they lost 4 wickets for just 54 runs!!! Out of the 4 wickets 2 were taken by Bhuvi and one each by Bumrah and Hardik Pandya. Guptill, Munro, Williamson and Ross Taylor all back in the dugout. New Zealand were in desperate need of a good partnership. Henry Nicholls and Tom Latham did just that but before they could accelerate the Indian bowlers struck back with the wicket of Tom Latham for 38 runs in 62 balls bowled by Axar Patel. New Zealand lost half their side for just 118 runs in 29 overs. Nicholls and Colin de Grandhomme put on another 47 runs for the 6th wicket. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was brought back in the attack to put brakes on what looked like another match turning partnership. He dismissed Henry Nicholls out bowled after a gritty knock of 42(62). Colin de Grandhomme played a useful cameo scoring 41(40) falling to over-spin of Chahal caught at short third man trying to clear mid-off. Southee scored 25 runs in just 22 balls as New Zealand finished 230/9. Bhuvi got 3/47 in 10 overs. The score looked good enough to be defended considering the pitch was on the slower side. Rohit Sharma once again fell to Tim Southee early in his innings scoring just 7(19) edging one in to the slips to get caught. Dhawan kept playing with a positive approach so as Kohli as they kept hitting a boundary almost every over striking at nearly 100. Kohli was dismissed for 29(29) trying to drive Grandhomme away from his body edging it to wicket-keeper Tom Latham. A classic Kohli dismissal really!! Dhawan along with Dinesh Karthik put on 66 for the 3rd wicket. Santner kept troubling both of them with his turn and bounce. Milne hit the right length and got an extra bounce to dismiss Dhawan to lobbed it to short cover. At 145/3, in walked Hardik Pandya. Pandya played a mature innings this time but he took on Santner as soon as the opportunity came hitting him over long-on for a massive six. A short ball from Adam Milne was too good to handle for him as he hit it straight to the man a mid-wicket getting out for 30(31). DK and Dhoni batted out till the end and scored the winning runs. DK scored a gritty 64*(92). Although it took a little long but nevertheless, India won by 6 wickets in 46 overs as they stay alive in the series by 1-1 with the Kiwis. Dinesh Karthik now averaged the highest among the 10 other batsman to have played for India at 4. India had most no.4 by any team in that period.

The decider match of the series was played the Kanpur. New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first. India being a chasing side were put under pressure straight away. India got off to a good start at a run-rate of close to 5 runs per over. Dhawan got out at the score of 14(20) caught at point by Williamson. Rohit Sharma was looking in a good touch and was finding boundaries with ease. Kohli also joined him and both played some positive shots in the middle. Rohit Sharma reached his 50 in just 52 balls. Kohli also scored 50 in 59 balls. They raised their 150 partnership in 152 balls. India reached 200 in just 35 overs. Rohit Sharma scored his 16th century in 102 balls. Kohli also scored his 100 in 96 balls. Rohit and Kohli put on 232 runs in just 35 overs. Kohli got out on 113 but Rohit looked good for an incredible feat which was his 3rd double ton in ODI such was his dominance shown by the Indians. Rohit was dismissed on 147(138). Although the lower order didn't score much and kept losing wickets. India finished 337/6 in 50 overs. Looking at the pitch the score wasn't looking that big especially after the position India were in. New Zealand would've felt confident of getting to this target. They put on 44 for the first wicket in just 5 overs. Guptill was the first man who scored 10(14). Bumrah's slower ball did the trick. Munro and Kane Williamson put on 109 for the 2nd wicket before got out bowled the dangerous looking Munro for 75(62) who seemed to take the game away from India very quickly. Couple of overs later Chahal also dismissed Kane Williamson. 2 quick wickets swung the match back in India's favour. New Zealand's best ODI batsman in Ross Taylor and a reliable batsman in Latham were now at the crease. Taylor got out to Bumrah on 39(47). The match was now into last 10 overs. Latham and Henry Nicholls put on 59 for the 6th wicket before Nicholls got out after scoring a quick 37(24). Latham still somehow looked like taking the game away from India but Dhoni's brilliance and Bumrah's throw ran Latham out on 65(52). Bhuvi-Bumrah at the death ensured that New Zealand fell short by 6 runs. The best part in this thing was the way Kohli supported Bhuvi to bowl at the death despite going for 75 in 8 overs. Bhuvi conceded just 5 runs and India got 2 wickets in the 47th over of the innings. India won the series 2-1. A real hard fought series and definitely satisfying for Kohli the Captain since India had come on top despite all difficulties they faced.

Final Edit

After the ODI series win few of the players spoke about India's performance

Spoiler: Post-match interviews

Feels good when the team wins, and you contribute. Happy how we played through this series. NZ were very competitive, and it wasn't easy to come and win. We had to be at our best to win. I was watching the pre-match analysis where they said my head was falling off, so I worked slightly on it. That helped. My head was falling a bit, and wasn't coming into the line of the ball. The quickly you rectify, the better it is. I enjoyed playing today in Kanpur, have good memories personally, but not for the team. Good to change that. (On his 100 celebration) Every hundred is special, but what I was working on came off well, and that's why I was happy. Sanjay Bangar (batting coach) helped my work on some of these things, and that's when results are more pleasing.

Whenever I bowled slow, it spun, so my intention was to vary my pace. I just wanted to make the left-handers drive. The dew factor made it very difficult to bowl. On this wicket, you need to flight the ball, so my job was to toss it up.

I tried to stay calm. If you try to complicate, then lot of things happened. Stayed calm, and job was to execute. I should have probably gone to the stumps and broken it (on the Latham wicket), but decided to throw it down anyway. I don't think about these things (people's pressure ahead of the final over). I was just focusing on ball-by-ball and kept expectations of people away. I try to look at the batsman till the end, but decide what delivery to bowl just before the release. It was difficult to bowl because batting got easier thanks to the due. Bhuvi was fantastic last match, it's okay he had his off days. He contributed at the end. It's okay, it happens: cricket is a great leveller.

Credit to NZ. They challenged us in all three games, and forced us to play our best in every game. Credit to the skill and character they possess. Congratulations to them for playing that way. I decided that I let the bowler do what he wants do do, and that's why I was calm. There was dew too, just glad the boys pulled through. To be fair to the bowlers: the wicket eased out nicely. The ball was coming onto the bat beautifully. Our last 15 overs, the bowling slowed down, so we were probably 25 runs short. It was difficult to get our shots away. But glad the bowlers came out on top: it was like a knock out game for us, and the boys showed their character. My aim is for the team to win the game and the series, and if I personally do well then it's an added bonus.

Now it was time for a 3-match T20I series. Like how India started as favourites to win the ODI series, it was the Kiwis for the T20I series. India had never beaten New Zealand in a T20I match which was another challenge for them.

The first T20I was played at Delhi. New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first. They applied pressure on both Dhawan and Rohit early in the innings. Both Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan ended up playing a false stroke only to end up being dropped by the fielder. What followed was a period of frustration for the Kiwis as India managed a first wicket partnership of 158 runs!!! Dhawan was the first man to depart on the second ball of 17th over being stumped by Latham off Ish Sodhi for 80(52). Hardik Pandya got out couple of balls later in the same over for a duck. Rohit Sharma was on 80(55) in a controversial manner. The Kiwis appealed for a caught behind off Boult in the 18th over which was turned down by the umpire after watching the replay saying the sound was of batting hitting the ground on which New Zealand reviewed and had the decision turned in their favour. Kohli and Dhoni finished strongly scoring by scoring 26*(11) & 7*(2) respectively taking India to 202/3 in their 20 overs (their highest in a T20I against New Zealand). The Kiwis never really looked into it as they just managed 149/8 in their 20 overs with Latham scoring 39(36) which was way too slow chasing a mammoth score like 203. Nehra went wicket less in his last match as one of the batsman was unfortunately dropped by skipper Kohli himself. Bumrah went for 9.25 runs an over while Bhuvi got 1/26 in 4 overs. It was the spin bowling spell of Chahal 2/26 & Axar 2/20 in their respective 4 overs which put pressure on New Zealand. India's first win against New Zealand in a T20I match came with a 53-run victory.

From Delhi we now move to Rajkot. After New Zealand winning the toss and electing to bat first India never really looked threatening on a flat wicket with the ball as New Zealand amassed 196/2 in their 20 overs. Thanks to Munro's 109*(65). Yet another left hander that had troubled the Indians now. But wait, was there any left hander left in this match ? Yes it was Trent Boult who took 4 wickets including that of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan who won India their previous match. Only Kohli 65(42) & Dhoni 49(36) scored good runs. But Dhoni struggled for his timing and rather played with a defensive approach and never really looked like playing for a win. It looked like he had already accepted a loss for India and was rather reducing the margin of loss. India just managed 156/7 in their 20 overs losing to New Zealand by 40 runs. Is this the repeat of the ODI series with New Zealand doing what India did?

The rainfall at the newly constructed stadium in Thiruvananthapuram delayed the match by an hour and a half. The match was reduced to a 8-over side affair. New Zealand won the toss and surprisingly elected to field first on an extremely damp pitch with wet outfield where the ball just stops. Maybe the fact that India don't do well on most of the occasions batting first made New Zealand think like that? India got to a very slow start though and lost both their openers on a score of 15 in back to back deliveries by Tim Southee. Sodhi got out Kohli for 13(6) & Iyer 6(6). Manish Pandey scored some quick runs by scoring 17(11) before Trent Boult dismissed him. India finished 67/5 in their 8 overs. Bumrah and Chahal used the slowness of the pitch and never let New Zealand feel the pace on the bat neither the let them generate it by cramping them for room. Bumrah took 2/9 in his 2 overs while Chahal just gave 8 runs in his 2 over. Bhuvi, Hardik and Kuldeep went for more than 9 an over but New Zealand still fell short because of Bumrah and Chahal's spell. They just scored 61/6 in their 8 overs. New Zealand lost because they completely failed to access the conditions which was done well by India. And India once again came out on top in a home series being too good for the opposition.

Spoiler: Post match

The wicket suited the bowlers, you have to handle the pressure. I've bowled in so many games like this. Whole team backed me, I calculate accordingly what the batsmen will do.

Will feel the pain after the game. I knew in the seventh over that I'll be bowling the last over. I knew I had to keep calm. Important to have a calm mind, one or two will go here and there.

The slower ball was gripping, after the first inning, Bhuvi and I had a chat about what will work. We saw they were gripping the ball, but our slower balls were not gripping. If you think about pressure, you won't be able to deliver.

We were happy to get a game eventually. An exciting game. We expected them to give us a good fight, we were quite nervous as to whether we could get enough on the board. You need games to step up and finish off games, the guys showed character. When Pandya was hurt, I thought I may have to bowl those four deliveries.

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Amir even troubled Virat Kohli. Although Kohli did manage to hit a boundary but he edged the next ball into the slips only to get dropped by Hafeez.

Pretty sure he was dropped by Azhar Ali and not Hafeez.

 

[Yash.]

Damn! This is some seriously great work dude!

 

[A.P Haux]

Damn! This is some seriously great work dude!

I agree. This is brilliant. Keep it up

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Pretty sure he was dropped by Azhar Ali and not Hafeez.

Thank you so much for informing. I have changed it now.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Chapter 21- Sri Lanka once again (this time in India)

​

After a successful campaign in the limited overs format for about 4 months, India were back to the longer format of the game. Sri Lanka were not going to be a threat to the Indian side in India as they lost all their matches in the previous outing back home. Although the Lankan camp was confident of forgetting the past and having some sort of success in India. They played a 2-day Warm-up with the Board President's XI. And they did manage to score 411/9 dec with some useful contributions from Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dimuth Karunaratne, Angelo Mathews, Niroshan Dickwella and Dilruwan Perera each of whom managed to score in excess of 40. But the bowling still was a worry as the Lankans only managed to take 5 wickets of the President's XI as they managed to score 287/5.

The sides moved to Kolkata to play the first match of the 3-Test series. The pitch in Kolkata was surprisingly a seaming wicket which is not usually expected in India as they rely on good batting pitches with a bit of turn to help their spinners and their batsman. So this would've been a good warm-up before India went to the rainbow nation at the start of 2018. Things became more difficult with rainfall and overcast skies. On top of it Sri Lanka won the toss and put India in to bat first. India probably wouldn't have had found a better opportunity than this one to acclimatize with difficult conditions. But, the Indians got off to a horror start as the lost KL Rahul to Suranga Lakmal on the very first ball of the match. Before they could recover from it they lost Dhawan on 8 who played one on to his stumps facing Lakmal. Soon Lakmal got what he would not even have thought about as he dismissed Virat Kohli out lbw for a duck. Due to persistent rainfall and wet outfields only 11.5 overs were bowled on Day 1 as India finished 17/3 at Stumps. On Day 2, the conditions did not improve much. The Lankans got few more wickets as India were now 50/5. Pujara and Saha managed to put up few more runs before rain halted the play on the score of 74/5 with no further play possible on Day 2 with only 21 overs being bowled. After managing to have only 32.5 overs in first 2 days of the play a draw seemed to be a huge possibility. Pujara got out in the first over of the Day 3 on the score of 52 with India now 79/6. Saha scored useful 29 runs. Cameos from Jadeja 27 and Shami 24 along with resilience from Bhuvneshwar Kumar took India to 172 all out. Suranga Lakmal finished with figures of 4/26 in 19 overs. The pitch now seemed to be drying out as Sri Lanka hardly faced troubles scoring runs barring some odd unplayable deliveries. They scored at close to 4 runs per over. They ended Day 3 on the score of 165/4 in 45 overs. India got both set batsman who scored 50+ in Mathews and Thirimanne close to the end of Day's play which proved to be some relief for them. Although the positive approach from Lankans kept the pressure intact on the Indian bowlers. Rangana Herath piled on this misery and scored 67 runs taking Sri Lanka to 294 all out. With a seaming pitch on offer the Indians kept bowling their pacers as Ashwin and Jadeja just bowled 9 overs in the 83 overs innings of Sri Lanka. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 4/88 in his 27 overs while Shami managed figures of 4/100 in his 26.3 overs. Umesh Yadav took 2/19. India came out with a really strong reply as they managed to score at a rate of more than 4 rpo. They put on 166 runs for the first wicket before Dhawan edged medium pacer Dasun Shananka to wicket keeper Niroshan Dickwella on the score of 94. This was a super bit of innings and a very strong reply from him and India after what happened in their first innings. India finished Day 4 on 171/1 and a result still looked possible for them as they were now in lead. Rahul got out on 79 at the start of Day 5. Pujara this time only managed 22 this time but he achieved a distinct record of batting on all 5 days of the Test match (the third Indian and ninth batsman overall). Kohli reached his 50th ton in International Cricket as the levelled Amla for the fastest batsman to 50 tons. India declared on 352/8 on the stroke of Tea having Lanka to bat 32 overs to save the match. The target of 231 looked out of question for them. India were all over Sri Lanka in the last session of the match as they had Sri Lanka down and out for the score of 69/6. Unfortunately the light wasn't good enough to continue as Sri Lanka finished 75/7 with a Draw as the result. Bhuvneshwar Kumar took 4/8 in his spell this time. He finished with figures of 8/96 in the match. Shami also got 6/134. From the bowlers perspective India had a good match. But to come out from the position they were in to nearly win the match actually deserves a lot of credit.

Now the series moved on to Nagpur. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bat first on what looked like a good batting pitch and was very much like an Indian pitch as opposed to the previous match at the Eden Gardens. Sri Lanka lost Samarwickrama and Lahiru Thirimanne early in the innings. Karunaratne and Mathews played out the remaining session before Lunch. Couple of overs in to post Lunch session Mathews got out lbw to Jadeja for just 10. Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne got together and built on a 62 run partnership before Ishant Sharma dismissed Karunaratne for 52. From 160/4 Sri Lanka collapsed to 205 all out. Only Karunaratne and skipper Dinesh Chandimal managed to cross the 30 runs mark scoring 52 and 57 respectively. Ashwin took 4/67 in his 28.1 overs while Jadeja took 3/56 in his 21 overs. India lost KL Rahul early to finish Day 1 at the score of 11/1. Sri Lanka had a long day on the field on Day 2 as Murali Vijay in his comeback match managed to score 128 while Pujara scored 121* at the end of Day 2. India finished Day 2 on 312/2. On Day 3 Shanaka finally ended Pujara's resilience of 362 balls scoring 143. But that wasn't enough to Lanka's misery as Kohli scored his 5th double ton in Tests along with Rohit Sharma scoring his 3rd Test hundred in his comeback match. But the lowest point in the Indian innings was a shot that Ajinkya Rahane played to a spinner way away from his body to get caught a third man for 2 off 15 balls as the run drought of Rahane still continued. India scored 610/6 declare and gave Sri Lanka some overs to bat out late in the day. Sri Lanka ended Day 3 on 21/1 and an innings victory seemed possible for India. Sri Lankan batsman kept on throwing away their wickets as they got bowled out for 166. Chandimal was the top scorer as he managed to score 61 (his second fifty in this match). Ashwin once again took 4/63 in his 17.3 overs while Jadeja took 2/28 while 2 wickets each were taken by Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma. Ashwin became the fastest bowler to 300 Test wickets. India won by an innings and 239 runs. Their joint third highest margin in Test Cricket. Sri Lanka lost their 100th Test match in their history. India comfortably gained a 1-0 lead.

So from Nagpur we now move to Delhi. For a change India won the toss and elected to bat first. They started of very well and scoring at close to 5 runs per over on what looked like a slow surface with fairly consistent bounce. India lost Dhawan at score of 42 as he scored 23. Vijay and Pujara just like last match had a very good start to their partnership by this time it was broken before it turned in to a massive one. Pujara just like Dhawan score 23 with India now on 78/2. India were 116/2 at lunch. It was yet another tiring session for the Lankans post lunch as India managed to score 129 runs in the session in 30 overs without losing a wicket. Vijay reached his 100 soon after. Although Sri Lanka did get a couple of wickets at the end of the day with another failure for Rahane having scored 1. The declining form of Rahane was proving to be a big worry for India. India ended Day 1 on the 374/4. They began Day 2 in similar fashion and kept scoring at a brisk rate. Kohli made it to his 2nd consecutive double ton and his 6th overall. He became the first ever Test Captain to score 6 double hundreds in Test Cricket. Rohit Sharma soon reached his half-century. The way Kohli was playing was a pure sign of dominance. He looked all set for a triple hundred. But suddenly the Sri Lankan players started to have some health issues due to excessive pollution. There were couple of stoppages for 5 minutes each which broke the momentum and Kohli got out for 243. There was another stoppage, this time for 17 minutes which frustrated Kohli and he had to go for a forceful declaration on the score of 537/6 considering the time that India had lost. The Indian were all fired up as they got a couple of early wickets with Sri Lanka now 14/2. Dilruwan Perera who was playing as a makeshift opener scored 42 runs and put on a 61 runs with Mathews for the third wicket. Sri Lanka lost Perera with score being 75/3. Mathews and skipper Dinesh Chandimal put on an even bigger partnership, infact of 179 runs with Mathews getting out for 111 to Ashwin. Chandimal went on to score a patient 164 off 361. At the end of Day 3, Sri Lanka got bowled out for 373. Ashwin and Ishant Sharma took 3 wickets each for 90 & 98 runs respectively. Jadeja bowled a massively under rated spell as he took 2/86 from his 41 overs. Shami was a little expensive but got 2/85. India lost Vijay early at the score of 10 as he managed 9. Ajinkya Rahane was sent in early this time just to gain some form. They move seemed to be paying off well as he played couple of confident shots but unfortunately for out for 12. Dhawan went on to score 62. Both Kohli and Rohit managed to score quick fire 50 in 58 and 49 balls respectively. India declared on 246/5. Sri Lanka lost 3 wickets for 31 runs at Stumps on Day 1. 410 looked way out of reach for them as they moved forward to a loss. What followed on Day 5 wasn't expected at all! Sri Lanka just lost 2 wickets and scored 268 runs in 86 overs. Sri Lankan batsman Dhananjaya de Silva went on to score 118 which is the highest ever score by a visiting batsman in India in fourth innings in a Test match. It was a really good showcase of denial from the Lankan batting line-up. Considering the vast difference between the sides and what happened few months ago in Sri Lanka this was an incredible fightback from them. This series result of 1-0 victory seemed to be more of India's loss than their win. And it also showed how difficult it was going to be for India to win in South Africa. Kohli received Man of the Series award for scoring 610 runs in 5 innings at an incredible average of 152.5!!!

Spoiler: Post match interviews

It was a good series personally and for the team.... It was kind of a revelation that I can play in Tests the way I can do in ODIs. There's nothing called set pattern these days, if you can believe in yourself, you can achieve anything in any format. When I wasn't captain, it was difficult to think of situations. When I was finding my feet in Test cricket, I was under pressure. When I got to a milestone, I relaxed. Now, it's a lot different.

On Rohit
We've always believed he can change the game in the lower middle order. Very happy with the way the batsmen are playing, everyone won't be able to score in every series, obviously. There are a few areas we have to work on, though.

On not getting 20 wickets
When you're not able to finish off in the second innings after having them three down on day four is disappointing. But they played well, they showed composure and confidence. The pitch got tired in the end. They didn't give us any chances to get into the game. In hindsight, if we would've grabbed our chances in the first innings, maybe they wouldn't have got so many runs. We should've done better. The slip catching and fielding, we need to work on.

On slip fielding
Firstly, from his initial days, Ajinkya has always fielded at gully. It's a difficult place, so we trust him there. First and second slip, if you practice well, you can get used to it. That's not the case at gully. We've identified it as an area we need to work on.

Source for quote- Cricinfo

Kohli was rested for the ODI & T20I series due to which Rohit Sharma Captained the Indian side. India won ODI series 2-1 and T20I series 3-0 while Rohit got man of the series for both formats.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Chapter 22: The Coach conflict


​

So since we are now moving into the Overseas tours section I felt this is the thing that now becomes important. Now most of us remember that before Ravi Shastri it was Anil Kumble who was our Head Coach. It probably fel to many of us that Kumble was probably a good coach and he could've actually become one of the greatest ever for Indian Cricket as well.

So now let us try and look into the reason why did this Coach-Captain conflict started. First of all Kumble wasn't our full time coach but he was probably kept on a 1-year term before he can become a full-time one. So again it wasn't as if he was said that you are the coach and you can go and do what you feel is that best in your opinion. They just had kept him as an interim and wanted to see whether he and the players are able to get well together or not and whether he can give us results in the long-term. So it was completely fine of the players to express their concern about him being the coach. Also the fact that Kumble did not have much of experience of coaching so to assume him to take Indian Cricket forward just because of his credentials as a player doesn't justify him as the right coach.

So Kumble became the coach in 2016 tour of West Indies. India in that period had already improved a bit as far as their performance was concerned and they probably had gained experience to atleast be able to beat an inconsistent West Indies side which did have some internal issues. So winning in West Indies wasn't the Kumble effect but the efforts and the approach of the Indian side which helped them win. Then they had a long home season which in all sense they were favourites to not just win but dominate being at home and the quality of players they had added to this. So yes under Kumble we did beat West Indies in West Indies and New Zealand, England, Bangladesh and Australia at home but it was equally the players effort to do well against this opposition.

Things were initially going well but as time went things started to change. Now why the change? Actually speaking India probably were not ready to accept Kumble's method fully and on top of that the board had made it clear that he was an interim coach for just "1-year term". So this probably creates a sense of resistance to change amongst the players. Kumble probably is the one who expects discipline on part of the players in the dressing room and in training sessions and when you are not ready to accept things the chances of conflict rise further more.

Indian cricket culture probably is more like understanding each other and trying to look after the like and dislike of the players. In simpler words making players feel comfortable is a top priority. And Kohli pretty much expects just that from anyone who coaches India. And during Kumble's tenure every now and then we got to know about some new sort of training taking place or some player being punished on being late for training and not training for a specific amount of time. And on the other hand when Kumble had joined he made it clear that it will always be the players who would come first and he isn't the one who would push players to do anything out of the ordinary. So many just assumed that they could get well with Kumble which didn't prove to be right.

Now the situations actually started to ignite during the Australia tour of India in 2017. The series which was a fiercely contested one between both sides involving a lot of outside controversy. India were expected to beat the Australian side comprehensively but come the series they lost the first match by 333 runs and almost escaped a defeat in the second one. Also, Ashwin looked a bit off in this series which probably was the effect of his workload playing in back to back long series. On the other hand Nathan Lyon and Steven O'Keefe were running through the batting order of India. Kumble just suggested to give Kuldeep Yadav a chance over Ravi Ashwin which the Indian camp resisted to considering how good a bowler Ashwin is for India. But Kumble was still very much keen on including Kuldeep which created issues in the team. Next match Kohli got injured but he was still keen on playing the next match considering the series was very much tense. But since Champions Trophy was in sight it made more of sense to have him rested. Kohli eventually was rested and Kuldeep played the last match. The issues continued to find it roots even during the Champions Trophy and Kohli wasn't impressed with the way they trained for the tournament. India eventually lost the Finals and Kumble himself stepped down as the coach.

Now this is the time when the board's role becomes important. Whenever there is an internal issue in the team the Cricket boards generally step in and resolve these issues. The failure lies in the fact that BCCI were very much relaxed with this thing and they didn't do much to look into this. So the thing was actually the lack of professionalism on the part of the board then the fault of players.

Now to hold Kohli alone responsible for it just because he is the Captain and he made it clear that he did not like the approach of the coach doesn't look fair since there were other players who equally had issues with Kumble the coach. So just because someone speaks up on part of a group doesn't put him in the wrong place. Since Kohli is the Captain he is pretty much responsible for speaking in support of the team whenever the team faces any issues.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

What a sheer waste this thread proved to be.

Mods close this thread. It makes no point to continue.

 

[CerealKiller]

What a sheer waste this thread proved to be.

Mods close this thread. It makes no point to continue.

Why?! I loved it.

 

[NILAYSHAH60]

Main point was to show the reasons for Kohli to continue as Captain. But he is mostly done now with the opportunities he has got. I believe he would stay on the job despite not giving his best. Power speaks in BCCI!

 

[Khan Sahab54]

Steve Smith is better.