Virat Kohli suffers first-ever ODI series defeat as Indian captain after losing decider
England romped off to a comprehensive 8 wickets victory against India in the series decider at Headingley. India were on the brink of scripting history as they would have won their 10th straight bilateral ODI series under Virat Kohli’s captaincy had they won the 3rd ODI. However, Eoin Morgan’s men were arguably the better side of the two as they downed the Men in Blue with ease. India failed to deliver with both bat and the ball, succumbing to a bitter loss.
It was Kohli’s first ever bilateral ODI series loss as the captain of the Indian team. Men in Blue’s remarkable unbeaten streak since their visit to Australia in 2016 was ended by a brilliant English side. The middle order was yet again left exposed as Adil Rashid showed his flair with some tricky spin which bamboozled the Indian batsmen. Apart from skipper Kohli’s gritty 71, only MS Dhoni and Shikhar Dhawan showed some resistance against the disciplined Indian attack.
A late cameo from Shardul Thakur ensured India somehow crawled to a moderate total of 256 runs at the end of fifty overs. Coming to chase, England didn’t have a strong start, losing opener Jonny Bairstow early but Joe Root and Eoin Morgan schooled the Indian bowlers with magnificent knocks. While Root slammed a 120-ball 100 laced with ten boundaries. Morgan meanwhile, blasted nine fours and the lone six of the innings in his 108-ball 88.
Kohli’s first bilateral series defeat as Indian captain means the Men in Blue fell short of just one series victory from matching Australia’s all-time record of 10 consecutive bilateral ODI series victories.
India’s winning streak of nine successive ODI series started from a 3-0 win against Zimbabwe in 2016. The Men in Blue then registered successive series wins against New Zealand and England in the same year. India’s fourth win came against West Indies (3-1), fifth against Sri Lanka in 2017 (5-0), sixth against Australia in 2017/18 (4-1), seventh against New Zealand in 2017/18 (2-1), and eighth and ninth against Sri Lanka (2-1) and South Africa (5-1) respectively
