WI vs IND: Century against England was more special, says Virat Kohli

IANS

New Delhi: Virat Kohli notched up yet another ravishing century to guide India to a 3-1 series victory over West Indies in the fifth ODI match, in Kingston, on Friday. His unbeaten 111 alongside Dinesh Karthik's 50 was enough to outplay the hosts in the final ODI game. However, the skipper rated his century against England, scored back in January ahead of this one.

It was first of the three ODI matches venued at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. Put to bat first, England were up and running as they had put forth a massive target of 351 runs. After the quick departure of the openers, and then two experienced middle order batsman sent packing, India stood at 63 for four, completely shattered with hope. But then Virat (122) had combined with Kedar Jadhav (120) to stitch an incredible 200-run partnership as India clinched victory by three wickets.

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"I would say the last one (against England) was still more special because the total was more massive and we were 63 for 4," Kohli explained after the match.

"For a batsman, you can't have an ideal scenario. When you have a chanceless knock as well, you haven't given any half-chances either. From that point of view, I felt it was a complete knock from a personal point of view and for the team as well," added the 28-year-old.

"But it's difficult to rate centuries... In hindsight, when you look at those things, you understand the importance of those knocks. Maybe the 49 in Bangladesh against Pakistan (in the Asia Cup T20 2016) was the best I've played in the last couple of years. It was only 49, it wasn't even 50, so I think the quality of the knock, you can think of it only later, when you play in different conditions when you understand how difficult the previous conditions were."

India will now take on West Indies for a one-off T20 encounter at Sabina Park, Kingston, tomorrow.

Post that, the Men in Blue will prepare themselves for a month-long series with Sri Lanka which will kick-off on July 26.