English
New Delhi: With New Zealand needing 19 runs to win from last over, Virat Kohli handed the ball to Hardik Pandya. It was Pandya’s first over of the match, but the medium-pacer made sure India end up as the victorious side.
Pandya kept it down to 12 runs in the final over and thus India won by six runs. Speaking at the post-match press conference, Virat Kohli revelled what Pandya told him in the middle of the final over.
“Obviously it was important to give him confidence. I tried to go to him after three balls (in the final over), but he said ‘mein daal donnga, aap tension mat lo (I will deliver, you don’t worry). As a captain, if you get that confidence from a bowler, then you don’t have to worry or tell him much,” Kohli said.
The Indian skipper also said that idea was save enough runs for the final over and that’s why Jasprit Bumrah was handed the penultimate over.
“68 (to win) was a challenging total. We wanted our best bowlers to bowl first (so that) in the end we had enough runs to defend. We had confidence on Hardik; his off-cutter is very effective. The wicket was damp and the ball was sticking into it. He executed well,” Kohli said.
For breaking news and live news updates, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram. Read more on Latest Cricket News on India.com.
