Virat Kohli wins 'Best Fielder of the Match' medal in new a initiative from Indian team management

The supremely fit Virat Kohli became the first player to win the 'Best Fielder of the Match' medal after his exploits during the India versus Australia clash in the ODI World Cup 2023 on Sunday at Chepauk.

Fielding has become an integral skill in modern-day cricket and is given the same weightage as batting and bowling. The Indian team started to show improvements as a fielding unit during the latter stages of MS Dhoni's reign as captain. However, under Virat Kohli's leadership, the 'Men in Blue' became one of the top fielding sides in world cricket. The trend of prioritizing fielding has continued in Rohit Sharma's era.

To put more emphasis on fielding, the team management has decided to give a medal to the best fielder in each of their matches. This initiative began with India's opening fixture of the ODI World Cup 2023 against Australia in Chennai on Sunday, October 8.

"A bit of change with the way we do things. Dilip will hand out the best fielder medal," India's head coach Rahul Dravid said in a video posted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

“In today’s game, Ishan was outstanding. Shreyas was outstanding with his two catches. But something we keep speaking about our team is about consistency, it’s not about one catch. It is about intensity, backing up. It’s not only doing your job but also making sure that you encourage and keep the right fielders at the right place. This one goes to Virat,” India's fielding coach T Dilip said.

Virat accepted the award and wore the medal with a big smile on his face. His teammates cheered for the talismanic batter as he was seen biting the medal towards the end moments of the video. The 34-year-old was a livewire on the field, taking a couple of catches and throwing himself to the ground on a number of occasions to stop runs. He followed it up with a 116-ball 85 with the bat, which helped India chase down a 200-run target with six wickets in hand.

Also Check: List of Virat Kohli international & IPL centuries