IND vs WI | Have to admire Virat Kohli's grit in tough conditions, states Simon Doull
Former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doull was extremely impressed with the way Virat Kohli batted in the final ODI versus West Indies and still managed to score 85 of 81 balls when he was not able to find the middle of the bat consistently. Doull believed that Kohli's grit is what makes him the best.
Virat Kohli is arguably the best white-ball player going around but there is also another side to his batting except for the exquisite strokeplay and it is the running between the wickets. There are days in cricketers' careers where they try hard but still are unable to meet the full face of the bat consistently and are struggling for timing. Virat Kohli had one such day in the series decider versus West Indies at Cuttack which is one of the few grounds in the world where he has a very poor record as a batsman.
Chasing 316 to win the game and the series, all was not coming out of the meat of the bat for Kohli and he struggled for timing throughout his innings. But he still managed to stay there and fight it out by hitting the ball in the gaps and running hard between the wickets. He still managed to score 85 runs off just 81 balls, before he chopped on a ball to the stumps bowled by Keemo Paul.
"That wasn't a fluent Kohli type innings but he just gets a job done. It was a tired shot to get out to because he had run so hard and he wasn't finding the middle of the bat consistently and it was just looked like a tired shot," Simon Doull said in a post-match chat show on Cricbuzz.
Doull was particularly impressed with the grit that Kohli showed and the maturity with which he batted to help Ravindra Jadeja settle in and then after his wicket the latter along with Shardul Thakur saw India home comfortably. Doull feels that such an innings is what separates the greats from ordinary batsmen. The willingness of Kohli to stay at the crease and patiently play his game even though he was not able to time the ball showed why he is a modern white-ball great and a captain who leads by example.
"When you are the captain, that is the important stuff. When your team sees you struggling and still you get the job done, even the team says look how he is fighting through and still putting the runs on the board. Have to admire his grit in tough conditions because that is the sort of stuff that you take from that innings of his," Doull concluded.
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