India vs Australia: 2nd ODI- Who Said What

After a resounding victory in Hyderabad, India managed to beat Australia in the second ODI in Nagpur as well, this time by eight wickets. The Aussies had their moments but stumbled in the crunch moments as the Men in Blue romped home and took a crucial 2-0 lead in the five-match series. India also won their fourth ODI against the Aussies in Nagpur and continued with their unbeaten streak.

Kohli comes to the party

India huffed and puffed after being put in to bat as they could manage 250 runs and were bowled out 10 balls short of their 50 overs. Rohit Sharma succumbed to another failure as he got out for a duck to Pat Cummins. Shikhar Dhawan and Ambati Rayudu scored 21 and 18, but both couldn’t covert their promising starts. Vijay Shankar and Virat Kohli got India back into the contest.

Shankar looked confident during his knock of 46 from 41 with five fours and a six. He cobbled together a stand of 81 runs with his captain. Adam Zampas removed Kedar Jadhav and MS Dhoni in quick succession. However, the 30-year-old Kohli went on to score his 40th ODI century to guide India single-handedly. For the visiting team, Cummins accounted for three wickets.

India romp home in the cliffhanger

Australia started the run-chase in a clinical manner as Aaron Finch and Usman Khawaja put on 83 for the first wicket. Kuldeep Yadav drew first blood, dismissing the former for 37 runs. Shaun Marsh tried hard but fell prey to Ravindra Jadeja. Peter Handscomb failed the other day and he made amends with a gutsy knock of 48 runs from 59 balls. Marcus Stoinis joined the party then.

He didn’t lose his cool and scored 52 runs from 65 balls before being castled by Shankar in the last over. Alex Carey contributed with 22 runs that got the Aussies closer. With Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami’s overs done and dusted, Shankar was required to defend 11 runs in the last over and he dismissed Stoinis and got rid of Adam Zampa to help India prevail in the humdinger.

Fast bowler Vijay Shankar said

It was an opportunity to redeem myself after the expensive over I bowled. I was literally waiting for this opportunity, wanted to bowl under pressure because only if I deliver, they will trust me. I was up for the challenge. Around the 43rd over, I was telling myself that I am bowling the final over and defend the score, just prepared myself a bit. It’s about staying clear mentally. Wanted to just stick to the basics, hit the stumps from a hard length as there was a bit of reverse. When you play for the country, you have to be ready to do what the team needs. I always say to myself to keep working on all aspects of my game so that when the opportunity arrives, I am ready to grab it. Yes, it (the batting) was good, timed the ball well and rotated the strike well. I was confident of doing well and we (him and Kohli) had a good partnership.

Aaron Finch, the Australian captain, said

It was close, was one of the games that we wanted to take as deep as we can, hoping that we could get across the line. Stoinis played a really terrific innings but we couldn’t get across the line. We’ll learn. (On when he thought Australia were in front) Not at any stage really, not on this pitch against this Indian attack. You know you have to play till the very end, can’t take things for granted at any point. (Whether Australia left it too late) Not really, I thought if Stoinis takes a risk early and gets out, we have no chance at all. I thought he played it well.

It was important for him to take it deep and I am sure he will learn from this. In the future, it will help us take games deeper and we will get across the line. (On his personal form) Not enough. Would have been good to get more, starts don’t win you games. We had many starts from our side and they had a century from their side. We bowled well in patches, we were great at times and okay otherwise. Virat was the difference in the game, if one of our main batters had done the job, we would have got across the line comfortably.

Virat Kohli, the Indian captain and Player of the Match, said

When I walk to bat, the situation gets difficult, I got no choice, just needed to put my head down and bat. Me and Vijay Shankar had a good partnership. I’m totally exhausted now. He (Shankar) was batting outstandingly well, but was unfortunately run-out. I knew 250+ would be challenging. I was thinking about the 46th over. I was talking with both of them (Rohit and Dhoni). If they take wickets, we’ll be right on the game and that’s exactly what happened . He (Shankar) just put the ball in the right areas. He showed great composure with both bat and the ball; a good game for him.

Both are experienced, it’s always nice to speak them. Rohit is the vice-captain and MS has been there for a long time. These guys watch the game so keenly. I have a word with the bowler as well, invariably all of them are in the same page. He’s (Bumrah) a champion. He just turned the game around, he’s at the top of the rankings, he’s at the top of his game. So proud to have him on our side. Just to come through in games like these, gives great confidence.

I think it’s very important to look ugly at times and earn victories. There might be low totals in WC games as well. We will fight till the end, and tonight was an example of that. This type of pitch was tailor-made for him (Kedar). He was keen to bowl the last over as well. He was chirping and encouraging the bowlers. He gives you 7 quality overs as well. It felt good (40th ODI century), just a number. As long as I keep playing for India, I’m happy.

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