Team India head coach Ravi Shastri was a very nervous and anxious man in the final phase of the decider between India and England on Sunday. However, he was a very happy man with India completing a series win against the number one ODI side in the world. T Natarajan held his nerve in the final over and defended 14 runs as Virat Kohli’s Team India completed a series win in all formats against England in the series.
India head coach Ravi Shastri praised the team for surviving the bio-bubble fatigue in the times of COVID-19 and pulling off two back-to-back series wins against the likes of Australia and England. India had earlier defeated Australia in the Test and T20I series in their own backyard.
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“Congratulations Guys for holding up and having a season of a lifetime in the toughest of times across all formats and hemispheres against 2 of the best teams in the world. Take a bow,” Shastri wrote on Twitter.
Season Of A Lifetime: Ravi Shastri
Congratulations Guys for holding up and having a season of a lifetime in toughest of times across all formats and hemispheres against 2 of the best teams in the world. Take a bow 🇮🇳🙏🏻 #TeamIndia #INDvsENG pic.twitter.com/8UnGPZfMY4
— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) March 28, 2021
India then lost four quick wickets in a space of next 50 runs and were down to 157/5 from being 103 for no loss. Rishabh Pant (78) yet again played a counter-attacking knock and with Hardik Pandya (64) added 99 runs in quick time. The partnership provided momentum to the Indian innings after India lost four quick wickets. Both the batsmen got to their respective half-centuries but got out at the wrong time. Shardul Thakur hit a quickfire 30 but India lost wickets at regular intervals, losing their last 6 for just 74 runs. India lost their last four wickets for just 8 runs as they reached 329.
Sam Curran’s valiant attempt with an unbeaten 95 was not enough as his team fell short by seven runs in the end. But this was not before England made a tremendous turnaround from being 95 for 4 to 2007 for seven. Curran formed crucial partnerships with the likes of Ali, Rashid and Wood. While Curran and Rashid added 57, Wood added 60 with Curran to keep England in the contest. The England all-rounder for his herculean effort was rightly adjudged as the Man of the Match.
Next up the players are expected to join the bio-bubbles of their respective teams by April 03 with IPL 2021 set to get underway from April 09 in India.
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