After India sealed a historic 9-0 triple clean sweeps over Sri Lanka last night (September 6), captain Virat Kohli came in for high praise from Sunil Gavaskar.
India won the only Twenty20 International of the tour on Wednesday to blank the heam team across formats, in Colombo. Kohli starred with the bat with an impressive 82 as the "Men in Blue" chased down 171 with seven wickets and four balls to spare at R Premadasa Stadium.
Former India skipper Gavaskar, in his post-match analysis on "Sony TEN" TV, said Kohli had "matured" as a cricketer and hailed the team's achievement.
"When you are younger you are a little bit more emotional. You tend to show it more. When you play more cricket you guard your emotions and don't expose them to your opponents. That is what he (Kohli) is doing. There is also maturity involved. And certainly he has matured," Gavaskar said.
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"Therefore there is not over show of emotions when he achieves personal landmarks. There is only disappointments when he got out (like today). He would have liked to stayed till the end. He batted splendidly," he added.
Talking about India's 9-0 demolition of Sri Lanka, he said the side's feat was remarkable considering they were the visitors unlike others who had done it at home.
"They lost in foreign conditions. Here it is India, the visiting team has won 9-0, that makes it even more remarkable, this achievement. It has been a fantastic tour. Team has shown the progress it has made. What is most important is everybody, at some stage, made a contribution to the wins," Gavaskar said.
Australia was the only team before India to have won 9-0 in a bilateral series, across formats. They beat Pakistan at home in 2010, winning all Tests (3), ODIs (5) and a T20I.
India next face Australia at home in 5 ODIs and 3 T20Is from September 17 in Chennai.
