Cricket World Cup 1983 winner Krishnamachari Srikkanth believes the captaincy of Virat Kohli and performances of Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal were the key to victory against Afghanistan.
I thought Virat Kohli captained brilliantly against Afghanistan and it was thanks to his outstanding leadership that India got the win in the end. He knew he didn바카라™t have a big total to defend 바카라“ just 224 바카라“ and he knew his two main, wicket-taking strike bowlers were Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal.
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The way Virat Kohli utilised both of them in phases, and brought them in when required to get those vital wickets, was fantastic. You know you바카라™re limited to five bowlers and you don바카라™t really have many options, so it바카라™s about how you rotate the bowlers to get the most out of them.
When do you go to the key bowler? When do you attack and when do you choke the opposition? Kohli answered those questions perfectly and that was the key to victory.
India had to take wickets in the middle overs when the partnership between Rahmat Shah and Hashmatullah Shahidi was building.
THE GAMECHANGER
Bumrah was brought on by Kohli and got two wickets in the same over 바카라“ that changed the course of the game. The Bumrah and Chahal combination was superb but from the Afghan point of view, even though Mohammad Nabi did a brilliant job with the bat, I still believe they should have chased down 225.
It was a good opportunity for Afghanistan to win a match at the ICC Men바카라™s Cricket World Cup and make a statement by beating India, who have been the most dominant side in the tournament so far.
I don바카라™t think anyone expected such a close match but it바카라™s great for the World Cup and probably a good thing for India as well because it바카라™s a kind of shock treatment that means they won바카라™t take anything for granted moving forward.
The wicket was slightly slow but frankly speaking, I think India got a bit stuck in the middle overs and should have played a little bit more freely.
They gave a little bit too much respect to Afghanistan바카라™s spinners because while the Afghans bowled well 바카라“ especially Nabi, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan 바카라“ they didn바카라™t do so well that India should have been restricted to 225. But they got the win, which was important.
The underdogs starting to bark is always good for the tournament 바카라“ it makes the World Cup even more interesting.
It has happened two days in a row now with Sri Lanka beating England and then Afghanistan running India close.
WAKE UP CALL
In losing to Sri Lanka, maybe the English batsmen took the chase of 233 a bit too lightly. England have a very good batting line-up and, from a depth point of view, I think they have the best with Chris Woakes batting at eight and Adil Rashid at nine.
I was surprised how they folded so suddenly against Sri Lanka but this kind of match can wake you up in the middle of a World Cup.
It can be a blessing in disguise 바카라“ England know now to watch out and they have learned they can바카라™t take any team lightly.
Perhaps it will be the same for India with the Afghanistan game 바카라“ a blessing in disguise. They won but you suddenly realise that if one, two and three aren바카라™t going to click in your batting line-up, what are four, five and six going to do?
I still believe England and India are the best two teams in the World Cup though and when they play each other in Birmingham next Sunday, it will be great.
(Courtesy: ICC)