IND vs AUS 2017: Virat Kohli targets MS Dhoni's record of nine successive ODI wins

A win in the third ODI match would also take India to the No. 1 spot in the ODI rankings. A dual happiness ergo, awaits for Virat Kohli in Indore.

IANS

New Delhi: The Indian juggernaut rolls on in the cricketing circuit with yet another comprehensive win in the one-day international format and so does Virat Kohli's captaincy. Team India registered a comfortable 50-run win at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on Sunday over Australia in the second ODI game and with that Virat Kohli completed a hat-trick. Well, it was for the third time that the home team recorded an eighth consecutive win in ODIs.

Opting to bat first, the hosts survived the quick early blow of Rohit Sharma as skipper Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane notched up their respective fifties. The Delhi dasher put up yet another masterclass innings with the willow as his knock of 92 runs helped India post a target of 253 runs.

An around par total, not difficult for the Australians, but they failed to survive the formidale bowling attack that helped the Indian team defend their total. Bhuvneshwar Kumar started off with his lethal inswingers that deceived both the openers Hilton Cartwright and David Warner. Aussie skipper Steve Smith and Travis Head did held on to the battle with their 76-run stand, but wristspinners soon stepped in to play their ploy and crumble down their hope of a fightback into the game.

The end witnessed an astonishing hat-trick by Kuldeep Yadav and with it ended Australia's innings. Although he wasn't impressive enough in his first spell, but he returned strong to dismiss Mathew Wade, Ashton Agar and finally Pat Cummins off successive deliveries to become the third Indian bowler after Kapil Dev and Chetan Sharma to register a hat-trick in ODIs.

Team India registered a 50-run win over the Steve Smith-led Australia and thus took a 2-0 lead in the five-match ODI series. It was their eighth consecutive victory in the 50-over format, third under the leadership of Virat Kohli. The wins came as – one against West Indies in the final ODI match in Kingston, a 5-0 ODI series whitewash against Sri Lanka and the two wins over Australia in the present series. This is a feat that no other Indian captain had achieved before, but accounting overall statistics, Ricky Ponting leads the chart with five such instances.

Kohli has led his side to a total of 37 ODI games where India managed to bag 29 victories and suffer seven defeats – thereby, standing tall with an incredible winning percentage of 80.55 per cent. The 28-year-old thereby stands second on the list of most ODI wins after first 37 games as captain. He tied with Windies great Clive Lloyd and Viv Richards while Ponting sits atop with 30 victories.

So what would happen if another win strolls in for the Men in Blue? It would definitely be there ninth on the trot as Kohli would equal MS Dhoni's yet another captaincy record. India's best run in ODIs has been between November 2008 to February 2009 when the team registered an applauding nine successive ODI wins under the leadership of MS Dhoni. The win would also take India to the No. 1 spot in the ODI rankings. A dual happiness ergo, awaits for Kohli in Indore.