Who Said What? What did Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli & Michael Bracewell say after INDvNZ 1st ODI?

India secured a four-wicket win over New Zealand in the first ODI of the three-match series at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara on Sunday, January 11.

Delving into the details of the first ODI, New Zealand was tasked to bat first after losing the toss. Devon Conway (56), Henry Nicholls (62), and Daryl Mitchell (84) helped New Zealand post 300/8 in 50 overs. Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, and Prasidh Krishna scalped two wickets apiece.

In response, Shubman Gill (56), Virat Kohli (93) and Shreyas Iyer (49) propelled India to a four-wicket win with six balls to spare. Kohli was adjudged the player of the match for his heroic knock. Kyle Jamieson’s four-wicket haul went in vain for the Blackcaps.

On that note, let’s delve into the details of who said what after the INDvNZ 1st ODI.

Player of the Match, Virat Kohli

Honestly I have no idea. I just send the trophies back home to my mum in Gurgaon - she loves keeping them. (about him being the second highest run-scorer in international cricket) If I look back at my whole journey then it is nothing short of a dream come true for me. I have always known my abilities, but I also knew I had to work extremely hard to get where I am today. God has blessed me with far more than I could ever ask for, I look back at my journey with a lot of grace and gratitude, and I feel really proud of it. 

(was he thinking about his 54th hundred) If I am being brutally honest, the way I’m playing right now, I’m not thinking about milestones at all. If we were batting first, I probably would’ve gone harder. But in a chase, with a total on the board, I had to play the situation. I felt like hitting more boundaries, but experience kicks in. The only thing on my mind was getting the team into a position where we could win comfortably. 

(what has changed in his approach) The basic idea is I bat at number three, if the situation is tricky, I back myself to counterattack rather than just waiting around. Any ball can have your name on it, so there’s no point being passive. At the same time, you don’t play outrageous shots - you stick to your strengths. Today, when I walked in after Rohit got out, I felt if I pushed hard in the first 20 balls, we could put the opposition on the back foot. That ended up making the difference. 

(when the crowd cheers when he walks out to bat) It is all different timings happens at different games, I’m aware of it, and honestly, I don’t feel good about it. I’ve seen the same thing happen with MS as well. It’s not a great feeling for the guy walking back. I understand the crowd’s excitement, but I try to focus on what I need to do and not think too much about it. I’m extremely grateful. It’s a blessing, honestly. To give so much happiness to so many people just by doing what you love - playing the sport you’ve loved since childhood - what more can I ask for? I’m living my dream, and seeing people smile makes me happy.

Indian captain, Shubman Gill

Definitely, it felt really good to contribute in a chase. the most important thing is staying in the present. As a sportsperson, you have to focus on what’s in front of you and what the situation demands at that moment - that’s what helps you handle both the highs and the disappointments, that's what I try to do. 

The way he’s (Kohli) striking the ball at the moment makes things look so easy, even on a surface like this where it wasn't easy to start, he made it look easy. 

More about rotation, Arshdeep did well in the last series and Siraj wasn’t part of that, so we want to keep giving everyone opportunities as we build towards the World Cup, especially with not too many ODIs coming up. He (Washington) will be going for a scan, so we’ll know more once that’s done.

NZ captain, Michael Bracewell

We can be proud of our effort. We pushed the no. 1 team in the world right until the second-last over and put them under pressure, which is always pleasing. Of course, there are a few areas we’ll want to tidy up, and if we’d managed another 20 or 30 runs - something closer to 320 or 330 - it could have been a very different game. 

I wish he (Jamieson) could have bowled 15 overs, coming off an injury, to see him bowling the way he did today was a big positive for us. I thought our batting group showed plenty of experience and composure, he (Mitchell) has been doing it for a long time, If we’d just found a few more runs at the back end, we really could have made it interesting. 

We talk a lot about creating match-changing moments, and while we did some things well today, there were one or two chances we’d look back. Under lights in India it’s never easy, but we set ourselves very high standards and that’s something we’ll keep pushing.

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