Virat Kohli’s heroic century proved ineffective as New Zealand scripted history by clinching their first-ever ODI bilateral series on Indian soil, sealing a 41-run victory in the third and final on Sunday in Indore. The Black Caps sealed the series 2–1 following brilliant centuries from Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips, who both slammed 137 off 131 and 106 off 88 balls, respectively.
Their centuries powered New Zealand to a big total of 337 for 8 in 50 overs. Chasing the target, India were bundled out for 296 in 46 overs, with only Virat Kohli standing out with a tremendous knock of 124 off 108. Following the match, veteran Indian cricketer Ajinkya Rahane hit out at Shubman Gill, questioning his captaincy. Rahane felt that Gill had missed a trick, pointing toward lapses in bowling rotations.
"Personally, I think Shubman missed a trick by bowling only three overs of Kuldeep in the middle overs, and then he was waiting till the 37th-38th over. Even Jadeja being held back till the 30th over, those are the guys who can get you the wickets. That is where India went slightly wrong," Rahane said on Cricbuzz.
Former Indian fast bowler Zaheer Khan also spoke along the same lines.
"More than Kuldeep, it is Ravindra Jadeja's inclusion in the bowling attack very late that was the problem. Maybe the thought was to give Nitish Reddy a bit more game time and overs under his belt in a match situation, but because of that, you get a bit hamstrung with your options. If you bring your second spinner at over number 30, then you pretty much know that he is not going to complete his quota of overs," Zaheer Khan said.