It is no lie that India has the best bowling attack in ICC Champions Trophy 2017. Not only Kohli, other teams also admits that it is difficult to face the Indian bowling. It has got variety, experience and tactics. But nothing seemed to be working in the match against Sri Lanka on Thursday.
India’s bowling was exceptional in this tournament until Thursday- when no bowler was able to defend a good score of 321. Danushka and Kusal Mendis smashed the Indian bowlers in every possible way. None of them was ready to back-off and believed that they can bat well on this pitch like the Indian batters did.
This duo was building pressure on the Indian pacers. Also for Jadeja, they had an attacking strategy. Both players attacked Jadeja as much as they could. The only way left to get them out was run out. This partner ship played and important role in Sri Lanka’s victory and a responsible knock by captain Angelo mathews was worth watching. According to Kohli, the Sri lankan batsmen did a well job and it was their positivity which helped them win the match.
“The good thing that they did was they did not lose wickets, and they kept getting a strike, which we as a team have done so many times,” Kohli said. “Sometimes teams are going to come up and do that against you, and sometimes you literally can’t do anything in the game. When we got those two run-outs, we thought we can get a couple of wickets now. But, again, those guys came in and played their shots, and it came off well.
“You try to find ways to get people out, but it doesn’t happen. If you have a couple of guys with off days in between, you can’t go in with eight bowling options. You literally have five or six with a part-timer. In any case, you play two spinners, or you play four seamers.”
On Sri Lanka’s batting, he commented, “Our bowlers also bowled decently well. If batsmen come out and play like that and everyone plays well, you have to give credit to the opposition as well. We’re not invincible.”