Australian team consultant reveals dressing room reactions to Kohli's brilliance
Australia's coaching consultant Sridharan Sriram has disclosed the admiration Virat Kohli had earned after his match-winning knock, which guided India to a six-wicket win. He revealed how Australian captain Steve Smith has urged his peers to emulate how Kohli soaked up the pressure.
“Before the match (against India), the talk in the Aussie dressing room was whoever won that league game would go on to win the cup. India will be hard to beat from this point, having found momentum and confidence.
“I was sitting next to Hussey in the dugout. And the talk was we had to somehow get Kohli. Despite the early wickets, we knew he was the main man,” Sriram told the Hindu in an exclusive.
Chasing a tricky target of 161, India got off to a poor start as they lost the wickets of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina for just 49 runs. However, amidst all the chaos, Kohli kept his calm and eventually guided his team to a crucial win, which knocked out the Australians.
Sriram revealed how Aussie skipper Steven Smith praised Kohli's effort in the dressing room and urged his team-mates to learn from his performance.
“Although the Aussies were disappointed, there was great admiration for Kohli. In fact, captain Steve Smith said to his men, “We can emulate the way Kohli soaked up the pressure and the manner in which he paced the innings on the chase despite India losing wickets,”” revealed Sriram.
“It was a very clever innings. The boundary on one side of the ground (on the leg-side) was long and Kohli placed the ball in that area and ran the twos incredibly hard. And he attacked the other side of the ground where the boundary square off the wicket was short.
“We were denied by the brilliance of one batsman. We were very much in the game till the 16th over. We needed a wicket at that point. The game turned in the last four overs. It was an inspired innings.
“Smith was extremely disappointed with the decision he got. He was convinced in his mind that he did not edge the ball. It was a vital moment since he is such a fine player of spin. And it was not an easy wicket to bat on. We needed Smith in the middle,” he added.
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