19 June,2017 11:33 AM IST | London | Debasish Datta
Virat Kohli's decision to insert the opposition in yesterday's ICC Champions Trophy final against Pakistan surprised quite a few pundits at The Oval here yesterday
Clive Lloyd
London: Virat Kohli's decision to insert the opposition in yesterday's ICC Champions Trophy final against Pakistan surprised quite a few pundits at The Oval here yesterday.
One of those experts included former West Indies' 1975 and 1979 World Cup-winning captain Clive Lloyd. The 72-year-old Guyanese legend wondered why Kohli decided to field first when the conditions were well-suited to batting. "Look, I am not being smart after the event, but here, the conditions suited the batsmen and the Indian side have quality batsmen," said Lloyd, who knows a thing or two about big-ticket finals.
In the 1975 World Cup final, he hammered an imperious 175 which was instrumental in West Indies' first silverware on the world stage.
Back then, Australian captain Ian Chappell put Lloyd's men in before failing to achieve the 292-run target in a 60-over game.
It pained Lloyd to see fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah's inaccuracy cost India dear yesterday. "He needs to be taken to the nets and sorted out," said Lloyd.
When asked whether his accomplished set of fast bowlers had similar problems as Bumrah, Lloyd said: "They were true professionals. When there was a problem, it used to be sorted out immediately and remember we didn't have coaches and footage in those days."
