India vs Australia: 1st ODI- Who Said What

The first ODI between India and Australia at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium turned out to be an exciting one and it went to the penultimate over. Eventually, it was the Virat Kohli-captained Men in Blue who came out trumps by six wickets and took an important 1-0 lead in the five-match series. The visitors would believe that they let India off the hook after getting them on the mat.

Khawaja top scores for the Aussies

Australia didn’t start well as Jasprit Bumrah accounted for Aaron Finch’s wicket in the second over itself. Marcus Stoinis and Usman Khawaja brought sanity into the proceedings with a stand of 87 runs. Kedar Jadhav dismissed Stoinis for 37 to separate the duo. Khawaja scored a half-century with five boundaries and a six. Kuldeep Yadav got rid of the big fish three overs after Stoinis perished.

Glenn Maxwell looked good for his 40 runs before being castled by Mohammed Shami. Ashton Turner could only manage 21 runs on his ODI debut. However, Alex Carey and Nathan Coulter-Nile buckled down and added 62 runs for the seventh wicket and that helped the Aussies rack up a competitive 236 runs. For India, Bumrah, Kuldeep and Shami got two wickets each. Jadhav picked up one.

Dhoni and Jadhav take India home

In the run-chase, Shikhar Dhawan got out for a duck to Nathan Coulter-Nile. Nevertheless, Kohli and Rohit Sharma stitched together a handy stand of 76 runs to bring India back into the contest. Adam Zampa used the Decision Review System (DRS) to good effect and dismissed Kohli, who was looking ominous after scoring 44 runs from 45 balls with six glorious boundaries and a six.

Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni came to the party and raced to a stand of 141 runs as the Australian bowlers kept rummaging for a much-needed breakthrough. The duo helped India reach the target with 10 balls to spare. Dhoni remained not out on 59 runs from 72 balls. Jadhav was the more attacking of the two as he scored 81 runs from 87 balls. His knock was laced with nine fours and a six.

Fast bowler Mohammed Shami said

We have worked hard as a team. And we are getting the results. Hopefully, we will perform well in the future too. I have been through lot of ups and down in my life. Cricket has made my life and I want to give my best for my team. I speak to experienced cricketers whenever I need some advice. I was very heavy around 93 kgs after coming back from injury and I have worked hard to reduce my weight. Thanks to everyone who have pushed me to reduce my weight.

Aaron Finch, the Australian captain, said

I think we were 20 or 30 runs short. I thought our bowlers did a terrific job. It’s not as if they are trying to get out. We certainly tried our best with the ball. I think the quick were good when they were banging it in. You have to continue taking wickets when you play against good teams.

Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, said

It was a difficult sort of a game. We did a good job with the ball. You have experience with MS and flair with Kedar. I think Kedar and MS took responsibility, it was great. Ten overs for less than 35 is a great job on this pitch. He set his fields on his game. He was all geared up that ‘I want to finish the game.’ Kuldeep’s been doing it for a while. I have never seen him (Shami) so lean. Got Maxi out with a beautiful ball. Heading into the WC, it’s a great sign for India.

Kedar Jadhav, the Player of the Match, said

(On bowling) My bowling is all about reading batsmen’s mind. I tried to bowl stump-to-stump. I don’t think like I’m a bowler. I enjoy my responsibility. Recently in Australia, we pulled off similar kind of chase. I just did that again today. I tried to learn a lot from him (MS). MS and Cheeku are the best chasers in the game. That’s what we learn from the captain and that’s what we tried to do. I would have tried to play more shots early. That’s waht he does, he tells you exactly. He reads your mind; plenty of times when you feel this ball can be hit for boundaries, he’ll tell you ‘the team needs more solidity and you have to bat till the end’. Every time you think of the team, most of the times, you’ll end up on the winning side.

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