Having registered victories in the Tests and T20Is, Virat Kohli & Co keen to win today’s second ODI for their third trophy and ensure world champions England return home empty handed
India batsman KL Rahul in the first ODI against England at Pune. Pic/PTI
Having won the Test and T20I series on England’s tour of India, the hosts have a chance to seal the ODI series too as they take on Eoin Morgan’s men in the second game at the Maharashtra Cricket Association stadium here on Friday.
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Virat Kohli’s men came up with a strong performance with four of their top seven scoring 50-plus and pace bowlers delivering the goods when it mattered. The only fault, if one has to be found, could be that none of the top seven Indian batters went on to get a hundred.
Speaking of three-figure scores, Kohli’s last ODI century came in November 2019, which is quite some time considering his high standards. And Friday won’t be a bad time to correct that record.
Besides Kohli, the hosts will also be happy to see Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul showing some form in the first ODI. Especially, Rahul batting well at No. 5 because that means the team’s think tank can still go for six bowling options, with the Pandya brothers occupying the No. 6 and No. 7 batting positions.
The Karnataka boy is obviously happy with the amount of time spent in the middle on Tuesday. “In the one-day format, playing at No. 5, I could take a little bit more time than I took in T20s,” Rahul said at a virtual press conference on Thursday.
“In T20s also, I wanted to give myself time, but it wasn’t going my way. Having spent a little time in the middle, having hit a couple of good shots from the middle of the bat, footwork going well, your nerves tend to calm down a little bit more.
“When I walked in, Shikhar was batting well. We lost a couple of wickets. When Krunal walked in, I knew that we had to stitch together a partnership. When you stop thinking about your personal game and there is a team responsibility ahead, you start thinking a bit more clearly.
“And having spent 20-25 balls in the middle, I started to feel a little bit more confident. The more time you spend in the middle, the calmer and more confident you start feeling. Getting a few boundaries off the bat, that calms you down and you start focusing on the task ahead. I don’t know if top of the order or lower makes much of a difference. The only thing is to spend a bit of a time in the middle,” he added.
With Shreyas Iyer being ruled out of the series due to shoulder injury, India will be forced to make one change in the batting order. It would be interesting to see if Rishabh Pant or Suryakumar Yadav get that spot.
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