As expected, the India-Pakistan match was a thrilling encounter, which unfortunately did not go India’s way. Defending 245 runs in the crucial match, Virat Kohli and his boys went down fighting as they lost the match by one wicket with two balls to spare. In the nervous moments of the last quarter of the game, the young India captain marshaled his resources well and was supported by his bowlers and fielders. He was appreciative of the efforts shown in the field by his troops.
While speaking to the media later, he said, “I think today it was a good effort from the bowlers and fielders to defend 245.”
However, he conceded that India have been making costly mistakes regularly. “If we make three or four crucial errors in each game, it’s quite costly in the end. That is one thing we have to learn from and improve on because there’s quite a bit of inexperience in batting and bowling.
People learn from mistakes, and I hope in the coming games we don’t repeat these mistakes and play more smartly at crucial times,” he said.
Asked what they would do to regroup after the shock of losing such a close contest, Kohli replied, “I’m not shocked at all. I’m really proud of the way the boys fought it out. If you compare the experience of our team with their team, it’s (the gap is) massive; it’s huge. And in international cricket, it really counts a lot. You can get away with it in Twenty20, but in the 50-over format, you need to show a lot of character, and that’s exactly what the boys did.”
“The kind of batsmen they had, and our bowlers with the inexperience they had, and to still put up that kind of fight (was remarkable). Amit Mishra, he gave only 28 runs in 10 overs, took two wickets, and bowled brilliantly against the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Hafeez, Umar Akmal, Shahid Afridi. It was a commendable effort and I’m really proud of the way the guys fought it out,” he elaborated.
Having bowled out Amit Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja’s overs early, Kohli went with Mohammed Shami and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the 48th and 49th overs respectively, and hence risked leaving the more economical Ravichandran Ashwin for the last over. That strategy paid off as Pakistan needed 10 off the last over with the new batsman, Saeed Ajmal, facing the off-spinner and Afridi stuck at the non-striker’s end.
Speaking about his strategy, Kohli elaborated, “I knew that if I put the seamers in before Ashwin comes to bowl, they will go for it. Wickets were all we wanted. If Afridi and Umar Gul had just played singles, they would have won easily. I took that risk of putting the seamers in and making them hit the ball. We almost pulled it off as well in the end.”
Amit Mishra (2/28) played a crucial role in keeping India in the hunt against the destructive Pakistani batsmen. When asked if he should have been included into the playing XI sooner, Kohli said, “Well that’s one thing you can say now. If he went for 70 in 10, I don’t think you would have asked me that question.”
“I have always been impressed by Amit Mishra. He’s an attacking bowler, which I like as well. He always likes to make the batsman take on that extra fielder inside the circle. The way he bowled with such a small target to defend, I think it was brilliant on his part. The amount of character he showed, he certainly put his hand up. In the future as well, if we want to play with three spinners or we want to go with the same kind of bowling attack, he would certainly be one of our priorities.”
Speaking about his own captaincy, Kohli said, “I’m someone in this team who has played more games than the others, so it’s more about having composure in different situations and that’s how you learn. It’s not always easy to step in and start captaining the side when you haven’t really had an idea of the formations and the kind of bowling changes that happen. As a fielder, there’s only so much you can pay attention to in the field, so to think about all that takes a bit of time for a captain.”
“Today even the guys responded to what I wanted to do and my ideas. It was good to be captaining out there in the middle, because suddenly the guys bowled and fielded well. It’s always pleasing for a captain if everyone’s giving 100 percent on the field and that was the case today. I’m learning with every game, trying to improve with every game and using my resources to the best of my abilities.”
Asked about the outside, mathematical chance that India have of making it to the Asia Cup final, Kohli said that he won’t be banking on anything. “All we can do is put up a strong performance in our game, try and get a bonus point, and then see. We will know by March 4 what happens. We are just looking to improve our cricket and correct our mistakes.”
