Legendary Indian batsman VVS Laxman has showered rich praise on India captain Virat Kohli after his “amazing batting” in the third T20I of the ongoing five-match T20I series against England.
Kohli came to bat at No.4 when India were reeling at 20/2 against England. With wickets continued to fall at the other end, the dashing right-hander has shown great patience and stayed on the crease till the end in the third game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday (March 16).
Initially, the skipper took time to settle down as he scored 28 runs from his first 29 balls, but then the chase master showed his magic with the bat, hitting his full range of classy stroke-making to score another 49 from the next 17 balls to help India post 157-run target in the third game against England.
However, Kohli’s inspiring innings of Kohli’s 77* runs off 46 balls knock and crucial partnerships with Rishabh Pant (40 runs) and Hardik Pandya (70 runs) were not enough for India, as England thrashed the hosts by 8-wickets in the third T20I to take a 2-1 lead in the ongoing T20I series on Tuesday.
Well, England might have taken a 2-1 lead in the ongoing series with the win, but Laxman was left mightily impressed by Kohli’s innings, saying Indian skipper’s innings is learning for any young batsman on how you show your magic under pressure and to pace the innings.
Laxman said on Star Sports Network: “At one point it felt if India can score even 140 or not because so many wickets had fallen. But once again Virat Kohli deserves all the praise. The chase master showed his magic in the last match (Sunday) but today (Tuesday) the way he first absorbed the pressure and then built the innings, it was amazing batting and learning for any young batsman on how you show your magic under pressure and the way to pace your innings.”
He continued, “Three wickets had fallen and he knew there was desperate need of a partnership, so first with Rishabh Pant and then with Hardik Pandya. I liked the way he used the crease, he knew where the gaps are and played shots in those directions, not only fours but we also saw sixes raining.
The way he understood the situation, first played the grounded shots, and then as the innings progressed we could see the change in the strike rate, we could see the aerial shots and not only in one or two directions, he hit boundaries and sixes around the ground and it was great to see that.”
Laxman signed off by saying, “The aggressive intent that was seen in the last few overs, that too against Mark Wood who was in a good rhythm and then against Jofra Archer and Chris Jordan, everyone would have enjoyed seeing that.”
