Virat Kohli was an elated captain as Team India thrashed New Zealand by seven wickets in the third ODI at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui on Monday (January 28). By virtue of this win, the Men in Blue also secured an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
Addressing the press conference after the match, Kohli said that his team has hit the “auto mode” leading up to the 2019 World Cup and there aren’t too many areas of concern for him at the moment.
“If you look at the last five games (two in Australia and three here), I have said that No 4 is a position that we are looking to solidify but when (Ambati) Rayudu starts playing like that, you start feeling more confident about the batting line-up,” Kohli quoted.
“Dinesh (Karthik) is in great form as well, he can step in at any time if we need to shuffle the middle order, MS is hitting the ball really well, so I don’t think after looking at the first three games, we have a lot to worry about,” he added.
Mohammad Shami picked up three wickets while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Hardik Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal claimed two wickets each as India wrapped up the hosts for 243 runs in 49 overs. Ross Taylor was the stand-out batsman for New Zealand, scoring 93 runs off 106 balls.
Chasing the target, Rohit (62) and Virat (60) forged a 113-run partnership for the second wicket to put the visitors in total control. Later, Rayudu (40 not out) and Karthik (38 not out) helped India cross the line with seven wickets and as many overs to spare.
Meanwhile, the Kiwis will have a sigh of relief as Indian captain Kohli won’t take further part in the remaining two ODIs and the subsequent three-match T20I series.
When asked if the intensity of the side will drop in his absence, the skipper replied: “Not at all. Now things are more or less running in auto mode for us. I don’t need to throw myself around and ask others to do the same. When these two guys (Karthik and Rayudu) were finishing the game for us, we were all sitting together and clapping for every run.”
“I don’t think that intensity will drop. I am happy that I am leaving when we have won the series. It gives me a bit of relaxation as well. The intensity is going to be the same because it’s a team culture now and not necessarily something to do with me,” he further said.
While he is delighted to have dominated the series so far, Kohli made it clear that this series win won’t have any effect when they will face the Kiwis during the World Cup.
“Look New Zealand is a strong ODI side. When you play like this against them, it gives you a lot of confidence and when you play them next, it will give us a lot of confidence. That’s usually how international cricket works.”
“You might have an upper hand when you play them again but you never know what kind of confidence a team is carrying when it goes into the World Cup.
“If you play them in the first game of World Cup, then these things (series win) matters but if they have had a great tournament before they play us, the series is not a guarantee that we will have an upper hand against them in the World Cup,” he signed off.
