Virat Kohli hails Ambati Rayudu’s ‘intelligent’ batting in fourth ODI against West Indies

Kohli called the Hyderabad batsman an “intelligent” player while hailing his effort in Mumbai on Monday.

“Rayudu has taken his opportunity with both hands. We need to back him till that big World Cup and give him more confidence. He is feeling good about his game and he is a very confident man. He reads the game really well, so we are happy that someone with intelligence is batting at number four,” the captain said, as quoted by The Indian Express after India completed the emphatic win to lead the series 2-1.

Happy with his team’s show in all facets of the game he added, “It was a very clinical game in all three departments. Something that we are very proud of and happy with the fact that we got back into rhythm. Put under pressure by Windies in the last game but we are known to bounce back and it was another example of that.”

Meanwhile, it was Kohli’s deputy Rohit Sharma who stole the show with a scintillating 162-his seventh 150+ score in ODIs. Speaking on his mammoth 211-run stand with Rayudu, Rohit said, “Very clinical right from the start. After losing two wickets, I had mentioned this earlier about having a big partnership and that was a game-changing partnership. All the four games that we have played, we have had some big partnerships which has allowed us to stay in the game. Once you are set, you gotta make it count and that is what me and Rayudu did in the middle. We carried for as long as we did. That eventually turned out to be the match-winning partnership.”

It was the Indian bowlers who and stood day as well–the best of them being the newbie Khaleel Ahmed who turned up with figures of 3/13 in five overs to cap off a dominant performance.

“Heartening to see the way we bowled as bowling unit. It was a long time coming, this kind of performance from the bowlers. Really really happy to see a very dominating performance from the bowlers. The spinners were turning it, the pacers were swinging it, so all is well,” he added.

But it was a West Indies side that was hardly a shadow of the one who surprised the world with a 43-run win in Pune. Admitting that they didn’t turn up with their best cricket, skipper Jason Holder said, “We didn’t play well enough today. We allowed them to score too many runs. We never got going with the bat and the application definitely was not there. Lost wickets up front, and didn’t bat well enough. We didn’t get enough momentum. Run-outs are something that you don’t want in One day or in any limited overs cricket.”