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Kohli puts World Cup plans in place
Captain Virat Kohli looked pleased with India’s performance in the first T20 International against England. Apart from setting his own personal landmark of the fastest 2000 T20 runs, the Indian skipper must have been doubly happy that KL Rahul came good at the right time.
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Kohli batted at No 4 and sent Rahul ahead of him, a decision that might have cost him personally, but nevertheless was in the interest of the team.
“We haven't changed a lot, I usually bat at three and have dropped to four, but this allows me to control the innings in the middle-overs. It gives someone like KL the freedom to go after in the powerplay,” Kohli explained in the post-match press conference.
“We want our cricketers to be fearless, enjoy themselves just like what Kuldeep and he did today. We don't want that mindset to change and want to provide a cushion behind them to go after. It may not work out well every time, but we need to stick to it,” he said.
“We dropped Jos (Buttler) and we know how dangerous he can be. It was a moment where I felt we needed to hold on to everything and I got the opportunity to convert. I can't be someone who's standing on the field doing nothing, I need to be pumped up when I am playing for the country and sometimes that boils over, but it's not that I always go bonkers. Luckily that passion has carried on for a while,” he added.
Kohli underlined the importance of forming a well-oiled unit fwith the World Cup in mind. “Just looking at all the three skill-sets and how convincing we were gives me a lot of pleasure. Some of the younger guys stepping up pleases us too. We are shuffling around keeping the World Cup in mind and that's why KL went in at three and I went in at four,” the Indian captain reasoned.
“Umesh was superb with the new ball as well. Kuldeep is a wrist spinner, he's going to be lethal with any help from the pitch. It was his one over that turned it for us because England was taking it away before that. He's very difficult to pick and his wrong 'un hasn't been easy and I hope he can keep working on it. At the toss I didn't think the wicket wouldn't change much through the course of the game, but we were lucky to keep them down to 30-40 runs short,” Kohli said and felt England would get to 200 after the start it got.
The captain was all praise for Rahul too. “And then the odds were stacked against England. Rahul has come a long way; especially the way he's been batting since the IPL and in that one game in Ireland - so clean and crisp. We want guys like him to step up. We don't want to be one-dimensional, we want people going up and down the order. He's got a great technique, great temperament and is very hungry and today he was a bit emotional because the last century he scored was against England in Chennai and it's been that long he's been waiting for. It was a great century and a great sign for Indian cricket.”
Innings to 2000 T20I runs:
- 56 Virat Kohli (India)
- 66 B McCullum (New Zealand)
- 68 M Guptill (New Zealand)
- 92 Shoaib Malik (Pakistan)
- Fastest to 1000 T20I runs - Kohli (27 innings)
- Fastest to 2000 T20I runs - Kohli (56 innings)
- Two T20I 100s on the same day - KL RAHUL part of both
- 27 Aug 2016: Evin Lewis (100) & KL Rahul (110*)
- 03 July 2018: Aaron Finch (172) & KL Rahul (101*)
T20I 100s for India:
- 118 Rohit v SL, Indore, 2017
- 110*KL Rahul v WI, Lauderhill, 2016
- 106 Rohit v SA, Dharamsala, 2015
- 101 S Raina v SA, Gros Islet, 2010
- 101* KL Rahul v Eng, Manchester, 2018
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