It has been a set template for Indian captain Virat Kohli. He walks out to bat, assesses the situation, takes his time to get going and then hits his stride. What follows is a flawless innings and also a century. The scenario was much the same in the third ODI in Trinidad.
India were chasing a stiff total and the openers were dismissed rather cheaply. However, it did not bother the skipper as he held fort and after Shai Hope dropped him early on in his innings, he did not make any other mistake. A 43rd ODI century followed and along the way, a plethora of milestones were passed.
Kohli on the march
In what can be termed as mind-boggling, Kohli became the first batsman to score 20,000 international runs in a single decade. Kohli now has 20,502 runs across all three formats of the game. Out of these 20,502, Kohli has scored 20,018 in the ongoing decade.
Also, with this innings, the Indian captain now has 97 scores in excess of 50 which is the fifth most by any batsman in the history of the game.
In this year, Kohli has 11 scores of more than 50 and holds the feat with Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma. The skipper has enjoyed himself against the West Indies and now has 9 centuries against them in ODIs. This is the joint-most by an Indian batsman against any opposition in ODIs and holds the record with Sachin Tendulkar, who too has scored 9 centuries against Australia.
The skipper was the difference between the two sides and for his century he was awarded the man of the match as well as the man of the series awards.
It was a series which presented India with an opportunity to find few solutions to problems and they have certainly found good promise in Shreyas Iyer. However, Rishabh Pant's temperament and the form of Shikhar Dhawan is a bit of a concern for the management, but as the captain said, the focus will now shift to Test cricket.
"We want to have people take responsibility at different batting positions. But he (Iyer) certainly presented a strong case for himself. He completely played in full control and was putting pressure on the bowlers. Really good tempo, good really character. Thankfully, it's not a fracture (about his injury), just a split on the nail in the front. I think I should be fine for the first Test," the skipper said after the match.
