Kohli: Series loss to Australia at home was added motivation

The Indian captain lauded his openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma after a convincing 36-run win over Australia at the World Cup.

Kohli and Hardik took the attack to Australia.

Virat Kohli stressed that all units of his team played in cohesion while registering an emphatic victory over Australia in the World Cup game here on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters at the Oval, Kohli said: “It was a fine performance, all of us batsmen played well and the bowlers were excellent and restricted Australia. Back home, we lost a series to Australia after leading 2-0 and that gave us added motivation.”

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The Indian captain lauded his openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma: “They are world class and have been together for six years. Both are instinctive and perform even better in ICC events. Rohit takes some time but with Shikhar, once he hits a few fours he can take off from there. And they gives us confidence.”

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Kohli also pointed out that Hardik Pandya is in a good space mentally and it shows in his game: “He loves playing the sport and does not think about the tournament and plays with a free mind. He told me that he will strike big while I could stay at the wicket and we played that way. He can strike at even 200 per cent.”

Meanwhile, Aaron Finch rued the regular fall of wickets during the chase. “Look we need a few things to fall in place when you are chasing. Unfortunately we kept losing wickets and I think we gave them a few extra runs. The Indian bowlers kept it tight and my run-out did not help,” the Australian captain said.