Southampton: India captain Virat Kohli admitted that his team made to work extremely hard by Afghanistan and things didn't go as per plan during their narrow 11-run win in their fifth World Cup match in Southampton. "This game was way more important to be honest as I said it didn't go as plan. But when things don't go your way, you need to show some character and bounce back and fight till the last ball and that shows the character of the team. We take a lot of heart from this win and take the confidence going forward," said Kohli after the match. Talking about the Indian batting, Kohli said that it was a difficult wicket to bat on and run-scoring was not easy.
"We have been playing some good cricket and you expect yourself to win the toss and put big runs on the board and then you see the pitch being slow with three quality spinners in the opposition, I felt 270 should have been ideal and thought 250 would have been par," said Kohli. "A team like Afghanistan who has a lot of talent doesn't let you play the way you want to play. Everyone had collective belief that we can win this one. They really put pressure on us in the middle overs and as I said our shot selection could have been a lot better," he added.The 32-year-old was also full of praise for Shami, who was included in the side for injured Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Shami returned with figures of 4/40 in his 9.5 overs, which included a hat-trick as well.
"All in all, the bowling performance was outstanding. Everyone's waiting for an opportunity and I think Shami was really good today, especially his first spell, he was making the ball do more than anyone else today. Vijay Shankar has come in and he showed intent and he is fielding really well. It's an honour for everyone to represent their country in the World Cup," said Kohli.
Virat Kohli fined over LBW appeal
Southampton: Indian skipper Virat Kohli was fined 25 per cent of his match fee for excessive appealing against Afghanistan on Saturday. Kohli was found to have breached Article 2.1 of the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, which relates to "Excessive appealing during an International Match", said the ICC. The 30-year-old was found in an argument with umpire Aleem Dar in the 29th over of Afghanistan's inning while appealing for the LBW decision. Kohli admitted to the offence and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Chris Broad of the ICC Elite Panel of Match Referees, and as such, there was no need for a formal hearing.
