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Lessons From Defeat: Dhoni’s Bad Choices & Team-First for Virat

As many records as Virat Kohli ammasses, a look at how he still has the team’s target in mind first.

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On Sunday, in the 3rd ODI against Australia, Virat Kohli rewrote two records – both of which illustrate why he is special.

During the course of his 117, he eclipsed the record for being the quickest to get to 7000 runs in ODIs; the record was previously held in the name of AB de Villiers, who needed 166 innings to get to the 7000-run. At the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, playing his 161st innings in ODIs, Virat reached the milestone – five innings quicker than that superman de Villiers.

As many records as Virat Kohli ammasses, a look at how he still has the team’s target in mind first.
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Virat’s 117 – his fourth century against Australia – made him the quickest to post 24 ODI centuries as well.

Before today, that record was held by Sachin Tendulkar; while the Little Master scored his 24th ODI ton in his 219th innings, Virat needed 58 innings fewer – mind you that’s not a typo - to score his 24th hundred.

Just to put things in perspective, other legends – Ricky Ponting and Kumar Sangakkara – scored their 24th centuries in their respective 278th innings and 378th innings. Wow!

As many records as Virat Kohli ammasses, a look at how he still has the team’s target in mind first.
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One thing that stood out during Virat’s century on Sunday was how quickly he sailed through the nervous nineties; the India number three needed only seven deliveries to get from 90 to 100. That is how a well-set batsman in expected to score – breeze through to the hundred and not allow the impending milestone to play on your mind.

As many records as Virat Kohli ammasses, a look at how he still has the team’s target in mind first.
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Eventually though, Virat’s run-a-ball 117 wasn’t enough for India to post their first win in the series; it was only the third time in his ODI career that despite scoring a century, his team ended on the losing side.

And the 3-wicket defeat was the outcome of several things India could have done better. To start with, they could have broken the trend from the first two ODIs and bowled better. On a track where spinners on both sides did well – Glenn Maxwell finished with an economy rate of 5.11, while Ravindra Jadeja returned India’s most successful bowler – MS Dhoni did not have the services of R Ashwin. Instead, he had to make do with Gurkeerat Mann who bowled only five overs.

It also resulted in Dhoni keeping Jadeja to bowl in the final ten overs, when if he’d had the services of Ashwin, he’d have probably bowled Jadeja out in the middle overs, especially against Maxwell who played him very cautiously.

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As many records as Virat Kohli ammasses, a look at how he still has the team’s target in mind first.

If only the Indian team management had looked at what Ashwin had done previously at the MCG; in the two World Cup 2015 matches at the MCG, Ashwin returned with splendid figures of 3-41 against South Africa and 0-30 against Bangladesh, bowling his complete quota of 10 overs on both occasions.

Further, even though MS Dhoni had a very good day with the gloves, the Indian team had a mixed day on the field; Gurkeerat Mann dropped a dolly very early in Australia’s chase, there were several instances of players misfielding and conceding boundaries, and then there was the instance of Umesh Yadav not attempting to run out Maxwell in the 45th over. As it turned out, India paid for their lapses and lost the series in the third match itself.

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