India’s talismanic batter Virat Kohli couldn’t get a hat-trick of ODI hundreds, having been dismissed for just 4 runs of 9 balls in the 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka. In his last two one-day matches — against Sri Lanka in the first ODI and Bangladesh in the 3rd ODI — the batter had brought up successive centuries. However, luck didn’t favour him in Kolkata. Ahead of the start of India’s batting, however, former India opener Gautam Gambhir urged the team to re-align its focus and think about the ODI series they lost in Bangladesh and not put too much focus on individual achievements.
During the mid-innings break, Gambhir said that although individual achievements are very important, the focus should be on doing well collectively.
“We should not forget that India lost their last series in Bangladesh. We have forgotten about it. Yes, individual brilliance are very important, very crucial, and individual hundreds are very important. It looks very nice when it comes to your record, that you’ve gotten 50 hundreds or 100 hundreds. But, we should never forget what has happened in Bangladesh because that is got to be a huge learning.
“India’s full strength side losing to Bangladesh in Bangladesh, I think we should grow from there rather than thinking and focusing on this series as what has happened in the past shouldn’t be forgotten,” Gambhir said on Star Sports during the discussion.
After the first ODI against Sri Lanka, Kohli had also opened up on his struggles before the Asia Cup 2022. But, the 33-year-old scored his 71st international ton during the tournament, against Bangladesh, and has since gone on to score a couple of more hundreds in one-day cricket.
“When I came back relaxed for the Asia Cup, I started enjoying practice. I started enjoying training again. Which is how I have always played my cricket. What I will say is that if you feel a little bit of desperation, always take two steps back, rather than pushing more and more. Because then things will start to go away from you,” Kohli had said in a chat with Suryakumar Yadav.
With 20 ‘home’ ODI hundreds to his name, Kohli would be chasing Sachin Tendulkar’s record as he takes the field in the 3rd and final ODI against Sri Lanka on Sunday.
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