Virat Kohli says he feels free after leading India to ODI series win

Virat Kohli said he feels “really free” after scoring 302 runs in India’s 2-1 ODI series win over South Africa. Kohli hit two centuries and a fifty, while Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav starred with the ball

Visakhapatnam: Indian batting mainstay Virat Kohli on Saturday said he is “feeling really free” mentally after producing another match-winning effort to help India clinch the three-match ODI series, in which he finished as the leading run-scorer with 302 runs.

Kohli scored a rapid 65 not out off 45 balls in the third ODI after hitting centuries in the first two games to extend his tally to a record 53, as India crushed South Africa by nine wickets to win the decider comprehensively.

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“Honestly, playing the way I have in the series is the most satisfying thing for me. I feel really free in my mind. I haven’t played like this in 2-3 years,” Kohli told the broadcaster after the match.

“I know when I can bat like that in the middle, it helps the team a long way. Makes me confident, any situation in the middle, I can handle that and bring it in favour of the team,” he added.

Kohli said self-doubt is inevitable for a batter, irrespective of experience, but felt it helps in overall improvement.

“When you play for that long — 15-16 years — you do doubt yourself. Especially as a batter when one mistake can get you out. It’s a whole journey of getting better as a person along the way. It improves you as a person and it improves temperament as well,” he said.

“I’m just glad that I’m still able to contribute to the team. When I play freely, I know I can hit sixes. There are always levels you can unlock,” he added.

Adjudged Player of the Series, Kohli, who topped the batting charts with 302 runs at an average of 151 with two centuries and a fifty, said the hundred at Ranchi was the most special knock among the three.

“The first one at Ranchi, because I hadn’t played a game since Australia. Just how your energy is on the day, Ranchi is very special for me and I’m very grateful as to how these three games have gone,” he said.

India captain KL Rahul said it was important for bowlers to get a break from bowling in wet outfield conditions after the dew factor influenced play in the first two matches.

“We got tough conditions in the first two games. So, it was good to give the bowlers a break in a wet outfield. The surface was still a really good wicket, what we were able to do was pick up wickets in bunches,” he said after India bowled out South Africa for 270.

India’s win was set up by Prasidh Krishna (4/66) and Kuldeep Yadav (4/41) in the first half of the game.

“We were able to squeeze in the middle. Prasidh picked up those two or three wickets in a spell which was really crucial and then Kuldeep coming in, picking two wickets in an over. In ODI cricket, that’s how you try and contain teams,” Rahul said.

South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said his side “gifted” wickets to India as they slipped from 168 for two to 270 all out.

“We would have wanted to make it a lot more exciting today. From a batting point of view, we didn’t have enough runs. It tends to get easier under lights. Probably should have been smarter as we gifted wickets,” he said.

“The Indian team showed their quality — kudos to them. We could have been a lot smarter. If you look at the first two ODIs, we did that. Probably today, the conditions were different. You never want to get bowled out in a 50-over game.”

Bavuma, however, was happy to see that South Africa was able to put pressure on the Indian spinners in the ODI series.

“India have quality spinners and it’s never easy to put them under pressure. For large parts of the series we did that. I think if there were 10 boxes, we ticked 6 or 7 of them,” he said.