Kohli hails Pandya’s raw talent

Sydney, Dec. 6: India captain Virat Kohli on Sunday said winning the T20 series against Australia without established players like Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah meant a great deal to him and lavished praise on the marauding Hardik Pandya’s “raw talent”.

Pandya struck an unbeaten 22-ball 42 to take India home with six wickets in hands in the second T20 International and help the visitors take a 2-0 unassailable lead in the three-match rubber here.

“Yeah meant a great deal. We’ve played as a team in T20 cricket. The fact that we don’t have Rohit and Bumrah, our established white ball players, in and still doing well makes me happy and

Yuzvendra Chahal equalled Jasprit Bumrah’s Indian record of most wickets in Twenty-20 Internationals by dismissing Steven Smith on Sunday.

It was leg-break googly bowler’s 59th wicket at an average of 23.98 in 44th innings of as many matches. Bumrah also claimed same number of wickets in at an average of 20.25 in 49 innings of 50 matches.

Only three bowlers completed a half century of wickets in Twenty20 for India.

R. Ashwin the third one who claimed 52 wickets at an average of 22.94 in 46 innings of as many matches.

I am very proud of this team,” Kohli said after the win.

While Rohit has missed the series because of a hamstring injury he suffered during this year’s

S. PERVEZ QAISER

IPL, Bumrah has been rested from the T20 matches keeping in mind the upcoming four-Test series against Australia.

The India skipper believes that with his raw talent, Pandya, who earned the man-of-thematch award for his batting, can become a bankable player for the team in years to come.

“The reason for him (Hardik) coming into the team in 2016 was pure ability. He has raw talent. And now he realises that this is his time, the next 45 years, to be that bankable player that can win you games from anywhere. His plans are right and I’m glad to see that,” Kohli said.

“He now realises that this is the time to establish in that (finishing) role and play match-winning knocks for us. He plays with all his heart and he certainly got that competitive nature about him and also has the skill to execute that at the highest level.”