“Look at our practice games, we have been batting like this,” says Virat Kohli after emphatic win over Scotland
India chased down Scotland's total in just 6.3 overs to surpass the NRR of both New Zealand and Afghanistan
There might have been a bit of criticism about India’s approach with the bat in the T20 World Cup 2021, but the Indian skipper Virat Kohli reckons India did not bat any differently from how they generally bat in T20 cricket or how they have been batting in the practice games.
According to Kohli, the opposition bowled really well to India in the first two games and India could not get two back to back big overs on the bounce which could have given them the momentum to put a substantial total on the board.
With an 8-over victory over Scotland yesterday, India are back with a sniff in the T20 World Cup 2021 after being almost written off post their first couple of matches against Pakistan and New Zealand which had resulted in heavy defeats.
India still needs Afghanistan to beat New Zealand on Sunday to have any chance to make the semis, but they have done what was in their control which was to beat Scotland by a huge margin. If Afghanistan beats New Zealand and India beats Namibia covering the required net run rate (NRR), India will qualify to the semis in what would be a remarkable turnaround.
Virat Kohli won the toss for the first time after losing three in a row in T20 World Cup 2021
Virat Kohli, for a change, won the toss against Scotland last night and he had no hesitation in opting to field first as that would have given India the chance to limit Scotland to a low total and chase it down inside 7 to 8 overs to take India’s NRR past the NRR of New Zealand and Afghanistan.
India couldn’t quite get the kind of start with the ball they would have liked as George Munsey played a couple of big shots first up, but the Indian bowlers were back at it very quickly and some quality bowling by the fast bowlers as well as the spinners restricted Scotland to a score of 85 before the top order chased it down in 6.3 overs.
“If you look at our practice games, we have been actually batting like this only. Just a couple of aberrations happened, where we just couldn’t got those two successive good overs,” Virat Kohli said in the post match presentation ceremony, reflecting on India’s campaign so far.
