Mike Hesson lauds Virat Kohli following double century

The coach of New Zealand Mike Hesson has gone on to reveal that Indian skipper Virat Kohli ‘killed them softly’ with his controlled aggression en route to his double hundred. Kohli went ahead and smashed 211 massively crucial runs, something that saw him become the first captain to score two double centuries.

It was perhaps the first time in the series that Virat Kohli’s defenses looked impregnable and he looked as solid as ever. He also went on to stitch an important partnership with his deputy Ajinkya Rahane as they added 365 runs for the fourth wicket, one of the highest partnerships in Test cricket at the moment.

Hesson went on to add that ‘Kohli killing them softly’ was perhaps the best way to describe the innings the Indian skipper played. Hesson also revealed that the bowlers had a lot of plans to get him out.

“(It was) High-quality batting, took a good delivery to create half chances. Went through long periods of play where we reeled out a lot of plans, stuck to our game well, but we were worn down. Kohli killed us softly, is the nicest way of describing it, after scoring about 120 singles (out of his career best score of 211),” said Hesson.

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Speaking about the standards set by the bowlers, Hesson revealed that he was pleased with their efforts given the fact that there was a lot of humidity on the day. Trent Boult and Matt Henry maintained the pace despite the conditions, something that impressed Hesson quite a bit.

“A tough day but, sounds funny, also a satisfying day in terms of the standards we set. Our seam bowlers delivering 30 overs, 135-140kmph at times, in heat and humidity. At no stage did we roll over and give soft runs. I thought it was a high-quality Test cricket. We contributed to that with our bowling.

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