WTC Final: "Virat Kohli was spot on with his field setting and bowling changes" - Salman Butt
Former Pakistan skipper Salman Butt was highly impressed by Virat Kohli's captaincy in New Zealand's first innings. The 36-year-old felt Kohli was absolutely sensational when it came to shuffling his bowlers and also placing the fielders in the right positions.
New Zealand began Day 5 on 102-2 and looked to be in the driver's seat to get a sizeable first-innings lead. But Salman Butt believes it was Kohli's fantastic captaincy and presence of mind in making the bowling changes that ensured the Kiwis took the lead by just 32 runs.
In a video on his YouTube channel, Salman Butt praised the 32-year-old for being extremely proactive and for making great decisions under pressure. Butt was also impressed with India's catching and believes the quality of cricket in the World Test Championship (WTC) final has been superb.
"Virat Kohli was spot on with his field setting and bowling changes. And apart from that, the catching throughout this Test match has been special. Shami had taken a great catch of Conway and the slip catching was brilliant. Shubman Gill also took a great catch. There is high-class cricket happening, be it batting or bowling," Salman Butt opined.
Salman Butt hails Shami, Ishant's exploits with the ball
The star of the show in the Indian bowling performance was Mohammed Shami. The speedster took four wickets and brought India right back in the game. He picked big scalps of Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Colin de Grandhomme and also the hard-hitting Kyle Jamieson.
Salman Butt was impressed with the performances of both Shami and Ishant Sharma. Ishant was miserly in his bowling and picked up a couple of wickets, providing great support to Shami.
"Shami was superb, he bowled brilliantly. He used all the possible angles of the crease. He swung the ball so much that even the keeper had problems in collecting it. Ishant was also superb. The economy rate of both of them was brilliant with Shami picking up four wickets and Ishant picking up two," Salman Butt signed off.