Australia Twenty20 skipper heaped praise on Virat Kohli, saying it is nearly impossible to stop the Indian batsman once he gets going
Virat Kohli and Aaron Finch
Adelaide: Australia Twenty20 skipper Aaron Finch today heaped praise on Virat Kohli, saying it is nearly impossible to stop the Indian batsman once he gets going.
Virat Kohli
Kohli slammed an unbeaten 90 before a collective bowling effort gave India a resounding start in the Twenty20 series with a 37-run win over Australia in the first match of the three-game series.
"Virat doesn't seem to hit too many fielders, so it doesn't really matter where you put them," said Finch at the post match press conference.
"He is just in unbelievable form at the moment and the wickets are very good. The way he uses his hands, his feet, he is a pretty complete player. When you are looking to restrict his scoring, he can work it into the gaps and he runs hard, always putting pressure back on the bowler. That's what makes him such a great player."
Finch said it was always tough chasing 189 with world-class spinners like Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja present in the rival team.
"The wicket didn't change much and it might have spun slightly more. We probably didn't expect that but at the end of the day when you are probably chasing 9-10 an over against world-class spinners like R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, it is always going to be tough. When you are ultra aggressive against them it favours them. There is always going to be a risk and tonight wasn't the night," he said.
The opener took the responsibility for his batting order's collapse, despite Australia getting off to a great start, stealing 34 runs off the first three overs.
"The run rate was up around 10-an-over like it was for most of the first 12-13 overs. So I felt that it was best to try and attack Ashwin and the other batsmen obviously thought the same. I wouldn't say it backfired. But I had allowed us to get too far behind the run-rate from the start.
"David Warner and Steve Smith were outstanding in their intent and they rotated strike too. I couldn't hit boundaries for a period there, so I take full responsibility for them getting out, as well as Travis Head," said Finch.
Finch admitted that poor fielding let the team down.
"Our fielding was the thing that cost us a few runs there and didn't give us that 170-type chase and obviously 18 runs is a lot in T20 cricket. I think that would have been a more manageable total.
"It is something that we need to look at, as two games in a row now in two different formats, fielding has let us down.
At the end of the day no one means to drop them. It was just one of those things that's contagious at the moment and you just want someone to pull off a half chance, so that everyone is back up and about again," the captain explained. Finch was happy to have Shaun Tait and Shane Watson back and felt that the team management and the selectors were on the right path of picking up the optimal squad for the World Twenty20, to be played in India in March-April.
"Shane Watson was outstanding and showed all his experience. He changed his pace, changed his length and stuff, and the guy has played 50 T20Is now. It seems like another 100s of games of T20 cricket around the world and he used all of that tonight. He was outstanding and obviously got two wickets which helps but we couldn't back it up in the middle, which was disappointing," he said.
"The guys who are in this 17-man squad at the moment, have to make sure that they are in that 15-man squad. Someone like Glenn Maxwell will also be coming back from injury, so it's just about making sure that we have got the balance right when it is time to pick that squad for the World T20," Finch signed off.
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