WI vs IND | Virat Kohli badly wanted a hundred, says Bhuvneshwar Kumar
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Bhuvneshwar Kumar admitted that his skipper Virat Kohli was extra eager to end his 11-innings century drought in the second ODI against West Indies. Kohli’s 120 and Shreyas Iyer’s 68-ball 71 took India to 279 for seven in their 50 overs, before Kumar’s four for 31 sealed the win.
Kohli has not been in poor form. In fact, he has been striking it quite well. Kohli's last hundred had come against Australia in March. Since then the Indian skipper has been among the runs, scoring five half-centuries, but has failed to reach a ton.
However, the world has become quite used to Kohli hitting centuries for fun. And it seems the Indian skipper himself was itching to raise both arms aloft once again.
"From Virat's expression you could see that he badly wanted to score a hundred not because he was out of form but because he was getting out in the 70's and 80's and he's always known for scoring big runs," Bhuvneshwar told PTI at the post-match press conference.
Kohli’s century put India on course for a win. But like his captain, India’s premier fast-bowler also played a decisive role in the 59-run victory. The 29-year-old trapped Chris Gayle in front early, and then came back to remove Nicolas Pooran and Roston Chase in the same over, and Kemar Roach in the next. His figures read 4/31 in eight overs and Bhuvi said he focused on bowling tight to the Windies throughout his spell.
"The wicket wasn't easy, when Virat came back to the dressing room he said after the ball gets old, it's not easy to score runs. When I came to bowl I was just thinking I have to bowl economically, get more dot balls. I feel getting wickets is a byproduct of bowling tightly. I wasn't thinking much about the result because we knew if we get one or two wickets we will be back in the game," Bhuvi said.
Perhaps the highlight moment of the day also came courtesy of Bhuvneshwar. In the fifth ball of the 35th over, he bowled a knuckleball that gripped on the surface and took the leading edge of Chase’s bat. The ball looped up to Bhuvi’s left, and he went full length to his left – while still in his follow through – and clutched it one-handed.
"I just caught it. I wasn't expecting it. Pooran's wicket was the main wicket for us because we all know how he plays and he can change the game. So his wicket was the key for us. Roston Chase also the moment he came he started taking singles. So those two wickets were crucial for us," Bhuvi said.Â
With Jasprit Bumrah, his main companion, missing, the experienced campaigner has now set his sights on an away series win. "We are up in the series we want to win the series. whenever you are playing away from home you just want to win the series," Bhuvneshwar added.
