Rohit and I decided not to run any more twos after the sixteenth over, says Virat Kohli
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli put on 219 runs for the second wicket in the fourth ODI
What's the story?
After a 168-run win over hosts Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI, skipper Virat Kohli had an interaction session with his deputy Rohit Sharma and the duo had a brief discussion about few things.
One of those things was how they approached their game during their 219-run partnership in just 28 overs for the second wicket and the captain admitted that it was too hot in the middle and they decided not to take any twos after the sixteenth over.
"Well, as we spoke out there in the middle, it was very hot and humid. So, we decided not to run any more twos after the sixteenth over. Actually, it was very helpful not to focus on too many things. We were just watching the ball and that is the thing we could do with the amount of energy we had left in us. I think the best thing was that we were just watching every ball that we were playing and we were not even looking at the scoreboard. We always enjoyed batting together and it is always a pleasure to bat with you. We have had big partnerships before and today was also special," Kohli said.
In case you didn't know...
After winning the first three matches of the five-match ODI series, India went into the fourth ODI with just two things in their mind, giving chances to the players who were warming the bench in the series and the second one being a win in the match. They gave chances to the other players and at the same time, they managed to post a huge win to take a 4-0 lead in the series.
Batting first, India scored 375/5 in their 50 overs, thanks to centuries from Kohli, Rohit and some notable contributions from Manish Pandey and MS Dhoni. Chasing 376 is never easy and the Sri Lankan batsmen didn't show any application with the bat as they were bundled out for just 207 in the 43rd over.
Jasprit Bumrah, Kuldeep Yadav and Hardik Pandya took two wickets apiece as they handed Lanka their biggest ODI at home.
Details
Apart from this, they also spoke about the dressing room atmosphere and how the support staffs have been helpful in the team reaching the top.
Kohli heaped praises on the assistant trainer, Raghu Srinivasan, in particular, for being the unsung hero behind the success of Indian batsmen.
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Author's Take
Without a doubt, the heroes of last night's performance were Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma as their partnership changed the whole complexion of the match after the loss of an early wicket.
Watching both these batsmen play together is like poetry in motion as they are two of the world's best ODI batsmen at the moment and both complement each other well. I wish that the Indian fans are lucky enough to witness more such partnerships of Rohit and Kohli in the future.