ODIs Not Relevant This Year: Virat Kohli Makes Startling Claim After Series Loss

The memories of last year’s World Cup semifinal came rushing back as Ravindra Jadeja waged yet another battle with New Zealand in the second ODI. But just like the World Cup game, Ravindra Jadeja once again fell agonisingly short of taking India over the line as New Zealand won the game by 22 runs to seal the three-match series with a match to go.

The Virat Kohli-led side looked set to draw level in the series after restricting the hosts to 273 for 8. Asked to bat first, New Zealand were off to a good start with their openers Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls adding 93 runs for the first wicket. At 142 for 1, the hosts were looking set to post a 300-plus total.

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The final wicket goes! Neesham gets Jadeja caught at long off by De Grandhomme as he looks to hit out with one wicket left. Impressive innings from Jadeja can't get his team over the line. A 22 run victory to win the ODI series. Scorecard | https://t.co/6E9wqCe2kt #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/DuR5pR1mDf

— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) February 8, 2020

However, the visitors staged a brilliant comeback to reduce New Zealand to 197 for 8 before in-form Ross Taylor and debutant Kyle Jamieson shared an unbeaten stand of 76 runs to propell New Zealand to a challenging total.

In reply, India were off to a disastrous start and lost five wickets for just 95. Shreyas Iyer scored a fifty but could not capitalise on it and threw away his wicket by playing a poor shot. Navdeep Saini and Jadeja then revived India’s hopes by sharing a 76-run stand. The equation was finally down to 23 runs off the last two overs with one wicket in hand. But Jadeja could not get the team over the line and was out for 55.

Speaking after the game, skipper Virat Kohli raised quite a number of eyebrows with his comments. While he called both the games great ones for the fans, he did not sound too disappointed with the results. Virat Kohli said that ODIs are not too relevant this year since there is no big ODI tournament. He also made it clear that the team would not bother too much about the result.

“Two good games, great for the fans. Impressed with how we finished. We let things slip away from 208-6 to 270-plus. We were in trouble with the bat, but Saini and Jadeja and Shreyas played really well,” said Virat Kohli.

“ODIs aren’t too relevant this year, but the people who can play that way under pressure is a big revelation for us. We could consider changes in the final game, since we have nothing to lose now. We’ll play expressive cricket and not worry too much about the result,” he added.