Kohli: 'Kedar's spell was game-changing'

Indian captain Virat Kohli revealed that Kedar Jadhav was brought on so that Hardik Pandya, who'd been leaking runs, may be taken out of the attack.

Kedar Jadhav celebrates with Virat Kohli after dismissing Mushfiqur Rahim.

Kedar Jadhav developed a reputation as a partnership-breaker in India's series win over New Zealand at home last year, and he delivered again on Thursday, turning the tide of the semifinal contest. He was brought on purely so that Hardik Pandya may be taken out of the line of fire, Virat Kohli revealed after India's nine-wicket victory at Edgbaston.

 

"Wickets were honestly a bonus. Hardik went for a few in his first three, so we wanted to give him a bit of a break and cover up overs through Kedar, and with one left-hander batting, we knew he had the ability to get in two, three, dot balls every over. But it ended up changing the whole game for us," he said.

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni had had a hand in the decision, the Indian captain revealed. "When moves like this pay off, I won't take the whole credit," he said. "Obviously, I asked MS as well, and we both decided that Kedar is a good option at the moment, and he bowled really well. He doesn't bowl much in the nets, but he's a smart cricketer."

Kohli added: "Kedar's spell was probably the difference in the game for us when we were bowling. The wicket was easily one where 300-310 was par, and to restrict them to 260 was a good thing. They never got away from us. It wasn't like they were going at eight, nine an over and we had to pull back. We never let them get to six an over, as well."

Kohli was pleased with the way his batsmen had performed. “The way Rohit (Sharma) and Shikhar (Dhawan) batted, it just gave me so much confidence heading into the changing room,” he said. “These guys just went out and especially Shikhar, the way he took off was outstanding. Those two guys really dent the opposition mentally and you can come in and play your shots. It was a beautiful wicket to bat on, and the outfield was quick too.”

Mashrafe Mortaza rued the untimely dismissals of Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim. “We could've had a big total had Tamim and Mushfiqur not been dismissed by a part-timer,” he said. “They might have thought, 'This is a part-timer; so I can go after him.' We were on top then and could have got 330-340 easily.”