Virat Kohli received the ‘Fielder of the Match’ medal for his outstanding fielding performance in India’s Champions Trophy group stage victory against New Zealand on Sunday in Dubai.
India secured a 44-run win over New Zealand, thanks to Varun Chakaravarthy’s five-wicket haul, finishing at the top of Group A. India will face Australia in Dubai on Tuesday for the first semi-final, while New Zealand takes on South Africa in Lahore on Wednesday.
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In the post-match dressing room ceremony, India’s fielding coach T Dilip discussed the team’s fielding efforts and announced the contenders before training assistant Udenaka Nuwan Seneviratane presented the medal to Kohli, who played his 300th ODI.
“We always speak about being gun fielding unit, for me the most important thing is how you are being proactive. I thought different faces of the game; the way we squeezed in when Mitchell came in and he couldn’t get to rotate the strike. The way bullet throws came from out field…”
“Coming to the contenders, the one looking like a superman and took that catch… Axar Patel. Game after game, he showed it again and the way he stamped his authority on the field, the way he mostly to the prime position and taking those catches, Virat Kohli. The way he squeezed in, putting those dives… Shreyas Iyer.”
Kohli joined an elite group of Indian cricketers to reach the 300-ODI milestone, including Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, MS Dhoni, Mohammed Azharuddin, Sourav Ganguly, and Yuvraj Singh.
In his milestone match, Kohli scored 11 runs before being dismissed by Matt Henry. Glenn Phillips took a spectacular one-handed catch at backward point, leaving both Kohli and fans stunned.
India posted a total of 249/9 in their 50 overs, with Shreyas Iyer leading the batting with 79 runs. Axar Patel and Hardik Pandya contributed 42 and 45 runs respectively.
