It has been completely one-sided series for the No.1 ODI team in the world with no fight from the opposition. After losing the Test series 2-1 for South Africa, team India got back into their fighting zone to give their best and clinch the 6-match ODI series 5-1 against the Proteas.
After an impressive bowling display, Indian skipper Virat Kohli led from the front with the bat to help India beat South Africa by eight wickets in the sixth one-day international at the SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday. Virat is in such a good form that he scored his 35th ODI hundred and 3rd in the series to help India chase 204 in 32.1 overs with 8 wickets in hand.
The team has been sensational all through the series and the spin twin Kuldeep Yadava and Yuzvendra Chahal have been one of the success stories. It is their first tour of the rainbow nation and they will cherish this victory throughout their career.
It was a clinical performance by team India especially skipper Virat Kohli scoring 3 centuries in the series and was awarded Man of the Series, not to forget the spin twin KulCha. He broke many records as a player and also a captain. He scored a staggering 558 runs in the series victory and is now ready to scale greater heights.
But in the post-match press conference, Virat Kohli made it clear that he has never ever played cricket to be a “headline grabber”. Virat Kohli was asked if this victory was his biggest one on the foreign soil. Virat Kohli was in no mood to take the media pampering and gave a hard-hitting reply. He said,
“It is something you people can tell because until a month back we were a very bad team. Now such questions are being asked. We have not changed our mindset, we were focusing only on our cricket and I don’t want to flow in this – whether this is the biggest win or not. Our job is to play, work hard and perform, try to win every match.”
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It was a sense of deja vu for the skipper, who had a slight altercation with the media at this very venue after the team lost the Test series. “I know for a fact that 90 percent people didn’t give us a chance after two Tests. I was sitting in the same room giving a press conference. So we understand where we’ve come from,” the sarcasm was not lost on anyone.
“I am not going to live in a dreamland right now and accept all the praise, sit here and feel good about this because it doesn’t matter to me. Honestly, it doesn’t. It didn’t matter when we were 2-0 down, it doesn’t matter now that we are 5-1 up because what matters is the respect in the change-room,” he said.
The skipper once again made it clear that public perceptions are least of his concerns as long as his team knows his worth. “What matters is what the management thinks about me, what I think about the players and what the players think about me. That’s all that matters to me. I know the headlines change from the day in and day out. Tomorrow I play a bad shot and get out for zero everyone will conveniently do what they want to do, so it’s not my job to say anything about what I do.
“Yes, if I make a mistake I will come here and accept it. I have never been one to give excuses and will remain like that. But I am never one to come here and praise myself. I can never do that because as I said, this is a job for me. I am not doing anyone a favor,” the skipper’s statement showed that how much the criticisms in the past has hurt him.