Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], October 9 : Following India's six-wicket win over Australia in the ICC Cricket World Cup, former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir lauded Virat Kohli for his match-winning performance, saying that youngsters can learn a lot from him about playing low-risk cricket, rotating the strike, running between the wickets and fitness.
An icey and calm partnership between Virat Kohli and KL Rahul helped India manage to secure a six-wicket victory over Australia at Chennai's Chepauk stadium to kickstart their ICC Cricket World Cup campaign with a win.
After the match, Gambhir said that it was important to read the game. India was 3 down for two runs during the chase of 200 runs and from there Virat built a match-winning stand with Rahul. Gambhir said Virat absorbs pressure and chases down totals with the very low-risk brand of cricket and rather, runs between the wickets a lot.
"Well, I think it is just the way you read the game. I think it's very important. First, when you have to chase those big totals, you have to absorb the pressure. You should have this self-belief, you can chase it down from any situation and position and, more importantly, when he does that in one-day cricket, you have got to realise it's not about hitting those big shots," said Gambhir to Star Sports.
"It is about running between the wickets. It is about rotating the strike. It is about never putting yourself under pressure. The fewer dot balls you play, the better position you are in, because you know that with these new rules, with five fielders inside and two new balls with any time to accelerate."
"But when your team is under pressure, that low-risk cricket from there on, if you can continue to build that momentum, continue to build that foundation and that is exactly what he has done. He plays the ball. He was on 70-odd with only 5 boundaries. So, that just shows the ability to play spin and more importantly, the ability to rotate the strike against spin," concluded Gambhir.
Virat said that Virat can be a role model for youngsters in many things.
"That is very important and that is why he's so consistent. And I am sure I think a lot of these young cricketers in the dressing room will learn the importance of fitness, the importance of running between the wicket and the importance of how to rotate the strike in the middle as well, because with this new format with T20 cricket, a lot of these new guys want to keep hitting the ball out of the ground," said Gambhir.
"But that is not gonna be easy. Imagine when you are 2 or 3 down for two. You cannot go out there and hit a long ball. You will still need to be able to absorb the pressure and try and rotate those strikes. And I'm sure these young cricketers coming through will learn from Virat Kohli," concluded Gambhir.
Coming to the WC match between India and Australia, Australia lost Mitchell Marsh for a duck, but opener David Warner (41 in 52 balls with six fours) and Steve Smith (46 in 71 balls with five fours) helped the Aussies recover with their 69-run second-wicket partnership. Marnus Labuschagne (27) tried to take the Aussie innings forward with Smith, but following Smith's dismissal, Australia faced a collapse.
The spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja (3/28), Kuldeep Yadav (2/42) and Ravichandran Ashwin (1/34) wreaked havoc on Australia's line-up of recognised batters while the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah (2/35), Mohammed Siraj (1/26) and Hardik Pandya (1/28) removed the lower order, sinking Australia from 110/3 to 199 all out in 49.3 overs. Mitchell Starc (28) tried to help the Aussies play the full quota of 50 overs, but he failed.
In the chase of 200, India lost Ishan Kishan, skipper Rohit Sharma and Shreyas Iyer for ducks, leaving India at 2/3. Then a 165-run stand between Virat (85 in 116 balls with six fours) and KL Rahul (97* in 115 balls with eight fours and two sixes) helped India secure a six-wicket win. Josh Hazlewood (3/38) was the best bowler for Australia.
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