Ravi Shastri, Virat Kohli Enjoy Yoga and Massage Ahead of World Cup
World Cup is expected to take a toll on cricketers and team
officials but Virat Kohli and Team India director Ravi Shastri are doing their
best to remain calm and composed.
A sublime Virat Kohli hunted
down Sri Lanka's 286, to complete India's absolute domination this series,
while checking off the only conspicuous individual milestone that had been
missing from the tour thus far - a Kohli hundred.
Five India
batsmen have hit centuries in the series, but for poise and execution, Kohli's
cannot be beaten. He arrived with India in slight trouble, watched on aghast as
his middle order deserted him in a crucial period, but picked apart the Sri
Lanka death bowlers expertly, to see India home in the penultimate over. MS
Dhoni was not on hand to deliver his trademark late-innings barrage, but as the
target neared Kohli even struck a helicopter-shot of sorts, to put the ball in
the stands behind long-on, and sealed the match with a six, for good measure.
Having finished on 139* off 126, Kohli roared at the game's conclusion, plucked
a stump from the pitch and soaked in the applause from a delighted Ranchi
crowd.
All this despite an expertly paced 139* from a desperate Angelo
Mathews earlier in the match, and a four-wicket haul for
Ajantha Mendis, on the first track of the series that offered significant turn.
Having been the first Sri Lanka captain to lead his side to a Test series
victory in England this year, Mathews now has the ignominy of presiding over
Sri Lanka's worst-ever one-day whitewash. Though, having taken two wickets and
a fine catch in addition to his ton, Mathews might fairly feel his team could
have supported him better.
Every other
centurion in the series had sought to ground himself with a quiet period early
in his innings, but in chases, Kohli is immune to the laws that bind other
batsmen. He arrived at 14 for 2, and creamed a square boundary off his fourth
ball. His strike rate did not stray far from a run-a-ball after that. An
economical push through cover that sent the ball screaming to the rope, and a
wristy flick to the midwicket boundary - both off Shaminda Eranga - were the
highlights of his early stay.
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