India skipper Virat Kohli was surprised that his team members Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were not given the Man of the Match and the Man of the Series awards, respectively. The MotM award went to Sam Curran whereas the MotS was awarded to Jonny Bairstow.
India defeated England in the third and final ODI in Pune to win the series 2-1. India put up 329 on the board in the first innings to set up 330 for England to chase. In reply, England fell just short, scoring 322/9 and losing by seven runs.
After scoring 30 runs in the first innings, Shardul Thakur picked up four wickets to turn the match in India’s favour. Thakur seems to have the golden touch, delivering whenever his captain calls his number.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar had a terrific game picking up the early wickets of England openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow, who were both in top form in the series. He also dismissed the dangerous Moeen Ali and eventually finished with figures of 42/3 in his 10 overs.
Despite Kumar’s and Thakur’s brilliance, Curran and Bairstow walked away with the Man of the Match and the Man of the series awards, respectively.
Curran scored an 85-ball 93 in the third ODI and also picked up the wicket of India wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant. Jonny Bairstow scored 219 runs over the course of the 3 matches to earn himself his award.
I’m surprised Shardul wasn’t the Man of the Match, and Bhuvi wasn’t the Man of the Series. A lot of credit to them for bowling so well in adverse conditions,
Kohli said.
This win has been sweet because it’s against the top team in the world, and we’re looking forward to the IPL. It’s been an amazing season, series, and this was a great way to finish it off.
With this series win, India made it 3-0 against England after defeating them in the Test and T20I series that took place earlier.
