India’s carrom-baller, spin wizard Ashwin bids adieu to international cricket
India's decorated off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin announced his decision to retire from international cricket moments after the Brisbane Test ended in a draw.
Skipper Virat Kohli described India’s 168-run win over Sri Lanka in the fourth ODI as a clinical performance and said he would continue to experiment with the team’s line-up in the fifth and final one-dayer.
Batting first, India posted a huge 375-5 in the fourth ODI with Kohli (131 off 96 balls) and opener Rohit Sharma (104 off 88 balls) scoring sublime centuries.
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The visitors then returned to dismiss Sri Lanka for 207 in 42.4 overs to take a 4-0 lead in the five-match series.
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“It was a good game for us. We spoke about not getting complacent at any stage and today was a clinical performance,” said Kohli,” who was adjudged the Man of the Match for his scintillating innings.
Talking about the toss, Kohli said: “We wanted to bat first because we hadn’t batted first in the three games. The wicket was amazing to bat on. It was a good toss to win, we put up a good score and it was very difficult for the opposition to maintain that required run rate.”
Asked if he would continue to experiment with the playing eleven in the next game, Kohli said: “We’ve given opportunities to three new guys. They will get another opportunity. Batting order is flexible and we can experiment depending on the situation of the game.”
Sri Lanka’s stand-in skipper Lasith Malinga on Thursday claimed his 300th wicket when he dismissed Kohli in the 30th over.
Asked about the achievement, he said: “300 wickets is special. But, it is just a number. I feel these last few days, I’m not doing well for the team. Still lost the game and that doesn’t feel good.”
Sri Lanka on Thursday succumbed to their sixth straight ODI defeat and Malinga hoped his team will make a comeback in the next match.
“We are still to get 250 in the series, I think the youngsters are too excited and couldn’t perform well to their potential. Hopefully they will comeback strong and perform well in the coming games,” he said.
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