India's captain Virat Kohli gestures towards a teammate during the second Twenty20 international cricket match between India and West Indies in Thiruvanathapuram
On a day when India were troubled by their poor returns on the field, skipper Virat Kohli stood as an epitome after his stunning dismissal of Shimron Hetmyer in the second T20I match between India and West Indies at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday.
Hetmyer, who had scored a half-century in the previous match to guide West Indies to a total of 207, looked to be in an impressive touch on Sunday as well. And the back-to-back sixes off Ravindra Jadeja in the 14th over was a morale booster for the 22-year-old. Hence, he looked for another against the spinner, with the ball all set to embrace the boundaries. But Kohli sprinted along the long-off area and caught the ball. Unable to control his speed, he fell on the ground and was slid towards the ropes but stopped right ahead of the boundary.
"It was just one of those catches that stuck in the hand. It came out of one of the lights. I just committed to the ball and put both hands out and luckily it came in my hand. Last game I dropped a one-hander. It's about putting in the effort, sometimes they stick and sometimes they don't," Kohli said at the post-match presentation.
While the dismissal ended West Indies' crucial 39-run stand, the visitors managed to power through to India's total with nine balls to spare. West Indies won the game by eight wickets to level the series 1-1.
After the defeat, Kohli expressed his disappointment over India's poor fielding. India had dropped a total of two catches on Sunday and five in the opener against the West Indies.
"To be honest, WI bowled cutters and their change of pace did not help us. But if we field so poorly, no amount of runs will be enough.
"We were poor with the field in the last two games. We dropped two catches in one over. Imagine if they lost two overs in the same over. Everyone saw we need to be more brave in fielding," Kohli said.
