After the ODI collection win over England, India skipper Virat Kohli mentioned he was shocked that pacer Shardul Thakur was not awarded ‘Man of the Match’ after a superb bowling effort in the third and remaining ODI of the collection.
Shardul returned with the figures of 4-67 in his fours overs together with the essential wickets of Dawid Malan (50), skipper Jos Buttler (15) and Liam Livingstone (36).
The pacer additionally contributed with the bat and performed a knock of 30 runs off 21 balls.
Notably, ‘Man of the Match’ was awarded to England all-rounder Sam Curran, whose unbeaten knock of 95 runs went in useless as a spirited bowling efficiency by India helped the hosts to defeat England by seven runs in the third and remaining ODI right here at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
England batsman Jonny Bairstow was awarded the Player of the Series award as the opener amassed 219 runs in the ODI collection.
On the different hand, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who scalped three wickets and a complete of six grabs in his comeback collection was additionally a robust contender for the Man of the Series.
With this win, India have clinched the three-match collection 2-1. Virat Kohli-led facet gained all the collection’ on this England’s tour of India. India clinched the four-match Test collection 3-1 after which went onto win the five-match T20I collection 3-2.
“I am surprised Shardul was not the man of the match, and Bhuvi was not the man of the series. A lot of credit to them for bowling so well in adverse conditions. Prasidh and Krunal were impressive but death overs batting was extremely good, despite the early wickets, and if the top three can get a hundred, then we can get 370s and 380s later,” Kohli advised host broadcaster Star Sports in the post-match presentation.
Kohli additional mentioned the sloppy fielding did price them however added that there was no lack of intent.
“When the top-two battle each other, we will get exciting games. No one will throw in the towel, and Sam played really good innings to keep them in the hunt. However, our bowlers picked up wickets, and it moved from us finishing it off to them getting over the line before Hardik and Nattu pulled it back. It is most disappointing for the guy who drops the catch, but as much as you get disappointed, catches get put down and sometimes they cost you. There’s no lack of intent, and our body language was outstanding. Eventually, we got over the line,” he mentioned.
“This win has been sweet because it is against the top team in the world, and we are looking forward to the IPL. It’s been an amazing season, series, and this was a great way to finish it off. Scheduling needs to be looked at in the future, since playing in bubbles will be difficult, and everyone can’t have the same mental capacity all the time, but I am looking forward to the IPL for now,” he added.
Earlier, India’s batting unit displayed a change of method in the third ODI and this ensured that regardless of shedding wickets at common intervals, the hosts posted a complete of 329.
Pant (78), Pandya (64), and Shikhar Dhawan (67) registered fifty-plus scores as India set a 330-run goal for the guests. The Virat Kohli-led facet then restricted England to 322/9 to win the match and the collection.