‘We did it little bit differently,’ Virat Kohli explains how Team India navigated their run-chase against Australia

India captain Virat Kohli said Sunday’s chase against Australia was about being calculative than flamboyant and called it a very satisfying win for the three partnerships by the top-order batsmen. Praising Rohit Sharma’s match-winning century, he said his experience came to the fore.

“We did it a little bit differently from what we have done in the past. We knew Australia would try and get one of us early (with Shikhar Dhawan missing due to shoulder injury). It was one of the most calculated partnerships between Rohit and me. We have had some flamboyant partnerships, but this was calculated. I had to play second fiddle to Rohit because he was settled. Then I had to take over in the middle when Rohit got out and then have that partnership with Shreyas Iyer. We had three back-to-back partnerships, so it was a very satisfying win,” said Kohli.

READ | Rohit Sharma leaves behind Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar in illustrious ODI list

Sharma and Kohli have a terrific record against Australia and they maintained it in the decider, helping India win with a partnership of 137 runs. He admitted Australia brings the best out of both him and Sharma because they know they will be challenged the most.

Also Watch l India beat Australia to win ODI series; Virat Kohli breaks MS Dhoni’s record 

“Yes, we have played a lot against Australia (hence the numbers are comparatively higher). We know Australia comes hard against the top players. It brings the best out of us against Australia. It’s about not taking a backward step.”

With the win at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, India avenged their defeat last March when they had lost the series 3-2. Talking about the lessons learnt, he said last year India had taken things for granted a bit. “After winning the first two, we thought we were definitely going to win one out of the last three. Against Australia, it is about body language and intent, it’s about making things happen. Unless you play with that intent, they are going to run over you.”

READ | Virat Kohli and I knew we had to get a big partnership - Rohit Sharma

Australia skipper Aaron Finch called Sharma among the five best ODI batsmen of all time. “Virat is probably the best one-day batsman of all time. Rohit Sharma is among the top five ODI batsmen of all time.

“With Shikhar Dhawan not there, they had to shuffle the order a bit and to still be able to get the job done by their two most accomplished players is a sign of their quality,” said Finch.

According to the Australia captain, India’s death bowling was the difference here and in the second ODI in Rajkot. “Shami absolutely nailed his yorkers and their death bowling in the last two matches was unbelievable.

“We felt if we were able to post 300 or 310, it would have brought our spinners into play. We probably lost just one wicket (too many). Just that momentum kept getting stalled every now and then.”