00:06Well there you go we got a series decider the knock that we had seen from Virat Kohli in the
00:11first T20 then the West Indies came roaring back in Trivandrum and at the Wankare which is known
00:17to be this batting paradise we saw exactly that from Team India as they managed to win this three
00:24match T20 series. Thank you so much for joining us here on Match Point with Brian Lara and Anil
00:32Kumble who else but Virat Kohli he'd missed out in the previous T20 series he'd come back with the
00:38intention and it was a different Virat Kohli not just from you know the first T20 but in this one
00:44as well it's his best knock in terms of the strike rate in this format seven sixes in innings we
00:49haven't seen that and he was stalking and he was pumping himself up. He was animated during the
00:55series and we also saw at the toss the intent that he wanted from his batsman especially because India
01:01was batting first they have been a bit circumspect in the previous T20s whenever they have batted first
01:08so he wanted to show that intent and the platform was set you know they were set by Rohit and
01:13KL Rahul
01:14so he came in and then just started to go after the bowling and and this wicket is such that
01:20you can
01:21really go there and then if you're in form it's very difficult for a bowler to contain a batsman
01:26and we saw we saw today the class of Virat Kohli. Brian he usually is in form but he isn't
01:33as animated
01:34you know that's something that is a little more intimidating if you're a bowling side. Yeah I mean
01:40when you're coming up against the the best batsman in the world you want to keep him quiet so when
01:44you
01:44see he comes out there with this sort of a vibe that he you know he wants to get aggressive
01:49and he's
01:50as you said he's stalking you know it spells trouble for the opposition but one thing I want to mention
01:55you know away from the topic is his selflessness you look at the second match where he sent in
02:01uh do a way to battle number three today again a perfect opportunity with a great start for him to
02:06come out and continue the onslaught he sent in uh Rashad Pant so I see there's some sort of a
02:12real
02:13leadership in him where he wants these players that are just on the outside to come in and see if
02:18they
02:18could take advantage of the situation they didn't do it he came on again and and today was just it
02:24was
02:24also very classy in it it was his best in his most sixes strike rate all of that but he's
02:29kept his
02:30composure as a batsman he wasn't throwing his back left right and center he was still middle in it and
02:35he still looked good and your understanding that at the wankari that is so easy in a sense to chase
02:39you had to put that sort of total on the board but coming into the series and we were always
02:44talking
02:44about when India bat first you know hasn't really worked well for them do they understand the template
02:49well perhaps Rohit Sharma on his home ground said okay listen I'm not gonna settle in this time I'm just
02:54gonna
02:54go from the word go no the general template that India follows is to especially at wankade or good surfaces
03:00when they bat first is to bat up to the 10th 11th over not lose more than one maximum two
03:07wickets and
03:08then you know push the score in the last nine to eight overs but today we saw a different India
03:14where they
03:14first came in and took charge and you could see in the first six overs India was 70 yeah 70
03:21plus so I think
03:22that's what they look to get and the intent was from ball one which was really heartening to see
03:27it was able to see that and here's a little fun fact because it is the end of the year
03:31when it comes to the T20
03:33series so you have Rohit Sharma the hitman and Virat Kohli who had this healthy little competition going
03:38amongst them can you believe it gentlemen the end the year when it comes to the highest run getter in
03:43this format on the exact same
03:46number of runs that is a pretty cool uh coincidence and they just carry it forward into 2020 now but
03:53when
03:53you're talking about that top order and setting the template and trying something different then you also
03:57look back at the series in this match in particular for KL Rahul and that opportunity to open innings to
04:03just miss out on triple figures in the decider yeah I wanted to get it but uh Kohli was in
04:09in in full flight
04:10and it was not about singles at that time to get them on strike you know he was just hitting
04:14boundaries
04:15I think it came into the last over where he might have had an opportunity but he didn't grab it
04:19but
04:19a great innings I don't think they think much about uh T20 hundreds and you know it's so scarce that
04:26um you
04:27know when you get when you get there it's great but I think most importantly getting the team to a
04:32unassailable total was the most important part and I was uh two great partnerships which is Rohit Sharma
04:39KL Rahul and KL Rahul and the captain uh uh Varad Kohli now understandably I can imagine how Anil Kumble
04:47will
04:47answer this because if it's his team he has to open the innings but between Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul
04:53now
04:54who is your first choice opener no I think you know Shikhar has been really good for India KL has
05:00grabbed this opportunity
05:01but in this format I would like to see KL open the batting because the intent that he shows
05:07uh I think it rubs off on Rohit Sharma as well of course Rohit and Shikhar have had a wonderful
05:12partnership
05:13in white ball cricket over the years but I think in T20 cricket you would like to see uh uh
05:19KL Rahul
05:20open the batting but unfortunately Shikhar hasn't recovered in time so he won't be there for the ODI series
05:25that Mayank Agarwal gets uh an opportunity in his place but what do you want to see from the ODI
05:30series
05:31uh for the Westerns or for India for both what do you want to see I want to see good
05:36cricket and I
05:36think um I was very pleased with the the way the T20 went uh the Westerns played uh good cricket
05:43especially with the bat India uh sort of gradually came into their own they weren't very good in the field
05:49in the first two games but I think they were a complete unit at the end of the series come
05:54this uh
05:55100 overs I would like to see good competitive cricket between both teams I understand the
06:00pitches are going to be great I want to see the Westernese batsmen apply themselves bat 50 overs
06:05if it's 5.5 if it's 6.5 whatever they get and maximize but make sure and play and represent
06:12the
06:12country well India is going to I don't I don't have to talk about India India is not going to
06:16come out
06:16there and play bad cricket the Westerns will have to do very well to win one game or to win
06:22the series
06:22well we want to see a competitive one gentlemen thank you so much for joining us here and giving
06:26us your thoughts and analysis on match point looking forward to your company the next time
06:30it comes around when the ODI series begins we'll see you then
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