Virat Kohli says India had a 'rare off day’

What’s the Story?

Virat Kohli and his Indian team have played exceptional cricket in the ongoing ODI series against Australia and have taken an unassailable 3-1 lead. However, they finally bowed down to the Kangaroos in the fourth encounter and lost by runs.

Nevertheless, in the post-match conference, the Indian skipper termed it as an off-day, admitting that the Indian batsmen underperformed to some extent. "We were optimistic with our chances. We got a good opening partnership but we needed one big partnership after that as well. From that point of view, it wasn't a great batting performance from us. That can happen. People have off days,” he said

Kohli also mentioned that Australia could have posted a higher total after the blistering start they got, courtesy the opening stand of Warner and Finch. “Honestly at the 30-over mark, they were going strong. I thought if we restricted them under 350, it would be a great effort, and we did do that," he said.

In case you didn’t know…

On a decent batting wicket at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore, Australia registered their maiden victory of the series. Warner and Finch blazed away to an opening stand of 231 runs to set the platform for a substantial total for India to chase down.

India floundered at various stages of their chase and lost wickets at regular intervals. Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Kedar Jadhav and Hardik Pandya played useful hands, but they weren’t enough to guide India to their fourth victory.

The details

Kohli also heaped praise on Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav for pulling things back during the death overs of the Australian innings. He also appreciated the Australian cricketers for their sterling show and admitted that the Kangaroos played better cricket on the day.

What’s next?

Australia and India will now lock horns in the fifth and final ODI of the series in Nagpur. With the game being a dead-rubber, while India will want to end with a victory, Australia will also look to end the series on a high.

Author’s Take

A winning streak is something which is bound to come to an end. However, the odd defeat might rejuvenate the team towards looking into their flaws. Virat Kohli has been simply stupendous in his role as a leader and has received appreciation from the cricketing fraternity.

Going into the last ODI, Kohli should try and take the positives out of the previous game and finish the series in a convincing manner.