This advice of Virat Kohli came in handy for Shardul Thakur and Team India, hit in one ball
Virat Kohli asked Shardul Thakur to bowl the second ball of the last over, the all-rounder obeyed the former captain and Bracewell was dismissed LBW on a personal score of 140.
There is a phrase in English, isn’t it ‘Once a captain always a captain’… We got to see an example of this sentence at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday night. Team India won the first ODI played here between India and New Zealand by 12 runs, in which Shubman Gill, Mohammad Siraj and Shardul Thakur played an important role, while Virat Kohli’s advice put the match in India’s bag. Batting first, Team India had set a target of 350 runs in front of the guests on the basis of Shubman Gill’s double century. Chasing this score, the Indian bowlers had scattered the top order of New Zealand quickly, but Michael Bracewell’s stormy innings had given the beating of all the fans including Team India.
This player, who scored a century in 57 balls, filled the match with excitement and was single-handedly taking the team towards victory. When New Zealand needed 20 runs in the last over, captain Rohit Sharma handed the ball to Shardul Thakur. Bracewell continued his blistering batting and welcomed Shardul Thakur with a six, but after this Virat Kohli said something which benefited Shardul Thakur and Team India.
Shubman Gill felt in this over that he too can score a double century, revealed after the match
Virat Kohli asked Shardul Thakur to bowl a yorker next ball, the all-rounder obeyed the former captain and Bracewell was dismissed LBW on a personal score of 140. With his wicket, New Zealand were bundled out for 337 runs and India won the match by 12 runs. Talking to Star Sports after the match, Shardul Thakur told about this advice of Virat Kohli.
Shardul Thakur said ‘Virat bhai asked me to bowl yorker length to get the batsman out, this is a special win for us.’
Michael Bracewell equals MS Dhoni’s world record, smashes century against India
At the same time, Bracewell said after the match, ‘We were just trying to give ourselves a chance. Unfortunately we missed out in the end. Santner and I shared a good partnership and tried to take the game till the end. However, there were plenty of runs left in the end. He bowled really well in the late stages. 20 runs were needed in the last over and today was not my day. These are early days of my international career and I don’t even have much footage of these bowlers.