March 3, Dubai India’s best player, Virat Kohli, won the ‘Fielder of the Match’ award for his fielding efforts in Sunday’s Champions Trophy group stage victory against New Zealand.
India defeated New Zealand by 44 runs thanks to Varun Chakaravarthy’s five wickets, which helped them win the tournament’s Group A. On Tuesday, they will play Australia in the first semi-final in Dubai, and on Wednesday, New Zealand will play South Africa in Lahore.
Before training assistant Udenaka Nuwan Seneviratane presented the medal to Kohli, who played in his historic 300th ODI, India fielding coach T Dilip spoke to the players in the dressing room after the victory, praising their efforts on the field and identifying the candidates for the best fielding honors.
“We often talk about being a gun-firing unit, but in my opinion, what matters most is how proactive you are. The way we crammed in when Mitchell entered and was unable to spin the strike made me think of other faces of the game. In a video that BCCI uploaded on its website, Dilip said, “The way bullet throws came from out field.”
When it comes to the competitors, Axar Patel is the one who looked like Superman and made the catch. He repeatedly demonstrated it in each game, as seen by the manner he established his dominance on the field, namely in the prime position, and by making those catches, Virat Kohli. Shreyas Iyer, he said, “the way he squeezed in, putting those dives.”
After Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Azharuddin, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni, Sourav Ganguly, and Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli became the eighth Indian player to reach the 300-ODI milestone.
However, Matt Henry dismissed the star hitter for 11 runs, meaning he was unable to make much of an impression in his milestone match. Glenn Phillips rushed to his right at backward point and pouched a one-handed stunner after Kohli struck a full-blooded cut, leaving both Kohli and the spectators in disbelief.
With a knock of 79, Shreyas Iyer led India to 249/9 in 50 overs, with contributions of 42 and 45 from Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya, respectively.
