The ongoing India Vs West Indies series appears like the players are doing their best to rope in the lost glory in Champion Trophy. With the astounding victory in the third ODI, India now stood at 3-1, once again, the players proved that we’re always the favorites moreover.

Though the first match was out of players hands as the rain intruded it, the tournament went forward with a bang by winning the next two comprehensively. Jason Holder and his troop put up a valiant bowling performance, led by the skipper himself to ensure a win in the 4^th ODI, however, their efforts were gone in vain.

Choosing to bat first, the West Indies line-up gradually declined to end up at a mere 205. Indians managed to bag the match within 37 overs. Skipper Virat Kohli stole the show with a brilliant 111*, along with the Man of the Match award. Dinesh Karthik scored a crucial 50, which provided support to the skipper in the mean time.

On the whole, opener Ajinkya Rahane was rewarded with the Man of the series trophy for his stellar and consistent display throughout the series. Rahane was picked in place of Rohit Sharma and the batsman capitalized the position pretty good.

Post the match, this is what the players have to say:

“I really want to make it count, and even in the Champions Trophy, I had been batting well in the nets. This wicket was slightly better as compared to the previous games. The ball was coming on nicely, and this was the best wicket to bat on. I was just trying to enjoy my batting. ODI cricket is all about enjoying your batting and go at your own pace. Whenever I go to bat, I always look to give my best, today me and Shikhar tried our best to get India off to a good start” said Ajinkya Rahane.

Meanwhile, Kohli praised the top order, pointed out the performances of Shikar Dhawan and Rahane,

“First and foremost, the aim was to win the series, have a complete team performance and a couple of standout performances. Special mention to Rahane who has been consistent throughout the series. It has been a while in ODI cricket and the way he batted was outstanding. Shikhar was really good at the top as well. Kuldeep Yadav with the ball was also outstanding. Every time with the ball, we were on the button and been consistent. Really pleased with the whole team effort. Today was another clinical performance from us. Winning convincingly in a chase is always a nice feeling and something we aim to do as a team. I didn’t want to disappoint you (Darren Ganga).”

Captain and Star of the match Virat Kohli came in defence of the aging MS Dhoni when the latter needed the most. Critics and former cricket players have raised their voices recently questioning the place of MS Dhoni in the Indian team and Grade A Contract. Many people believe and have voiced their opinions asking MS Dhoni to consider his retirement and pave way for the youngsters like Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson.

But Virat Kohli has taken a guard in front and has replied back harshly to those statements. Virat made it clear that Dhoni is an indispensable part of the team. “He is striking the ball beautifully, you don’t need to tell him anything in terms of how to play a situation, how to build an innings,” said skipper Kohli at the post-match conference after India’s series win.

Later, congratulated Karthik for the fine fifty, “You mentioned, two failures in the last 2 games, for me it is all about getting the team across the line. I never look at stats and numbers. For me it is all about looking at the scoreboard and focus on what I need to achieve. Which bowlers to target and when we need to give respect to the bowlers. Even if it is a big total or small total I like playing with the tempo of the game. Stringing partnerships help. DK and Rahane have been excellent. Communication really helps. General mindset is to get the team across the line.”

On the other hand, Indies’ captain Jason Holder said:

“We got a very good start. Unfortunately, Kyle Hope got out when we were building some momentum. I just hope that the guys learn quickly. I can only control what I can control. It’s a relatively inexperienced side and hope we get some results our way going forward. The pitch was good throughout the entire game. We just didn’t capitalize. We lost wickets at crucial stages and never recovered from there. Our bowling has been good in few of the games, and that will be the positives I’ll be taking from this series. Still a lot of work to be done in terms of consistency.”