During the youngster’s half-century lower down the order, the 24-year-old has drawn praise from Sunil Gavaskar. The former India captain analyzed how the all-rounder approached his innings as he looked to raise the bar and take the team closer to the target.
“He batted just like a lower-order batsman, without any concern. There were no expectations from him. He knew his job was to swing the bat. If he connected, great. There were times when the short ball was bowled. He tried to cut it into pieces,” Gavaskar said, via Star Sports.
“He couldn’t get it, but that didn’t frustrate him because he realized that ‘if you bowl it up, I’m going to hammer you, or if you put it down mid-on, I’m going to hit you for six’, and that’s exactly what he did. That, to me, was the impressive part, that he didn’t let the fact that he hadn’t actually got any of those runs bother him,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.
The 76-year-old added that not every player gets the opportunity to bat with stalwarts like Sachin Tendulkar and Viratand Harshit has to enjoy these precious moments.
“You had someone like a Kohli at the other end. How many people have the opportunity to bat with a Kohli or a Tendulkar? You just want to enjoy all those moments,” Gavaskar concluded.
India loses first ever home series to New Zealand
With the score tied at 1-1, it was a series decider at the Holkar Stadium, Indore. Batting first, the visitors posted a mammoth total of 337 runs, thanks to centuries of Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips. In response, the Men in Blue failed to chase down the target and lost the match by 41 points.
Virat was at his very best in yet another chase, scoring 124 runs off 108 balls. But the real talking point of India’s chase was pacer Harshit Rana’s explosive batting. The Delhi native joined Kohli when the pressure was on and still managed to score 52 runs, keeping the side in the match and unfortunately ending in an unwanted result.
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