Captain
Virat Kohli has called on his players to be “ruthless” after the
crushing one-day series win over Australia took India top of the world
one-day rankings to add to their number one Test status.
A
five-wicket win in the third game of the five-match series on Sunday
gave India an unassailable 3-0 lead over Steve Smith’s Australia. It
also stretched India’s winning streak to a record 12 matches across all
formats.
Kohli’s side have been on a roll for the past year since
regaining the number one Test spot with a 3-0 home whitewash of New
Zealand. The in-form captain has led from the front with 1,137 runs in
21 50-over matches this year, ahead South Africa’s Faf du Plessis as the
highest one-day scorer in 2017.
Kohli praised his team after the
latest win against the once mighty Australians, who have been outplayed
in India. Smith’s team also lost a Test series 2-1 in India this year.
“Credit
to the whole squad for the series win, but the journey stops only after
the final game,” said Kohli, the top ODI and T20 batsman in the
International Cricket Council (ICC) ratings.
“We may give
opportunities for people from now, but all 15 guys know that we got to
be ruthless once we step onto the field,” Kohli added.
The series has
seen new Indian stars emerge, with all-rounder Hardik Pandya and
left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav making an instant impact. While
Pandya’s crucial 78 led the team’s run chase in Indore, Yadav impressed
with his maiden hat-trick in the second international.
However
legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi believes India have not been tested
by opposition teams, barring the Champions Trophy final in June against
Pakistan which they lost by 180 runs. India won 10 of their 13 Tests on
home soil in the 2016-17 season and then went on to rout hosts Sri Lanka
over nine games in all three formats.
“Realistically speaking
Indians are not even fielding their best XI and beating the opposition
hands down, whether it is Sri Lanka or Australia,” Bedi said.
“We are
loving the ratings, but if we are a little more pragmatic then you will
realise that the Indian team in the last year or so haven’t been
stretched by the opposition. “Just that one game in the Champions Trophy
final against Pakistan, other than that we have not seen them in a
tight situation.
“We will get to know the character of the team when
they come out of a tight situation,” Bedi added. Left-arm spinner Axar
Patel returns to the Indian squad in place of Ravindra Jadeja for the
final two ODIs that will be played in Bangalore and Nagpur on Thursday
and Sunday. Patel, who sprained his ankle at the start of the series,
will join Chahal and Yadav as the third spinner in the 15-man squad.
Indian teammates celebrate the wicket of Australia’s Glenn Maxwell during the third one-day international at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. (AFP)