Completely foxed by the turning Eden Gardens wicket, senior Pakistan batsman Shoaib Malik said their batting unit needs to take cue from Virat Kohli as the Indian vice-captain’s classy knock on a difficult pitch turned out to be the difference between the two teams.
Kohli was head and shoulders above the rest in terms of quality of batsmanship as he played a special knock of unbeaten 55 runs off just 37 balls on a difficult pitch to guide India to a convincing six-wicket win over arch-rivals Pakistan in a rain-curtailed ICC World Twenty20 match last night.
“Our total was not enough to defend against such a great batting line-up. We should give credit to Virat Kohli’s innings. He was the only difference between the two teams,” Malik said at the post-match press conference late last night.
“He (Kohli) backs his skills and that’s his key. He reads the situation well. He knows how to play on any difficult or flat track. That’s why he’s very consistent. You’re the best coach of yourself. If you talk to yourself you will have all the answers. As a batting unit we also need to do the same thing,” he said.
“The conditions are not in our hands but yes one area we have to improve on is our batting. We have to work a lot. When the ball was turning a lot we should have played sweep or reverse sweeps more often. Those shots are helpful on a big turning wicket as it breaks the spinners line.
“There are areas we need to improve, especially our batting. Even though it was a tough pitch to bat on, I feel we could have set a better target,” Malik added.
