Champions Trophy 2017 | Virat Kohli: MS Dhoni encouraged me to give the ball to Kedar Jadhav
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Virat Kohli revealed that MS Dhoni suggested him to bring Kedar Jadhav into the attack who scalped the wickets of two set Bangladeshi batsmen to help India restrict the opponents to a modest 264. He also added that Jadhav's smartness helped him to adapt to the situation and trouble the batsmen.
Bangladesh were looking solid at 154-2 with the set duo of Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim occupying the crease who each had reached their respective 50-run milestone. The Indian skipper then brought in Kedar Jadhav to bowl for the first time in the tournament who broke the Bangladeshi pair's 123-run partnership and got India back into the game by dismissing Tamim Iqbal. Later, the right-arm spinner also sent Mushfiqur Rahim packing to further impose pressure on the Bangladesh side.
Kohli revealed that the surprising decision was strongly supported by his predecessor MS Dhoni.
"Yeah, when moves like this pay off, I won't take the whole credit. Obviously, I asked MS(Dhoni), as well, and we both decided that Kedar is a good option at the moment, and he bowled really well. Credit to him," he said.
"Wickets were honestly a bonus as Hardik went for a few in his first three. So we wanted to give him a bit of a break and cover up overs through Kedar and with one left-handed batsmen (Tamim), we knew that he had the ability to get in two, three, dot balls to the left-hander every over. But it ended up changing the whole game for us," an elated Kohli said after the match.
"Kedar doesn't bowl much in the nets, but he is a smart cricketer. He knows where the batsmen get troubled, and if you can think like a batter when you are bowling, it's obviously a bit of an advantage to any bowler. So I think that today he executed the plans perfectly," Kohli said.
