On Sunday (February 2), India completed a historic 5-0 T20I series victory over New Zealand. After the success in the 5th T20I, KL Rahul spoke about team's 'common goal'
Mount Maunganui (New Zealand): India’s stand-in captain KL Rahul has revealed the team’s “common goal” and said they are focused on it.
For the fifth T20I against New Zealand in Mount Maunganui, India had rested regular captain Virat Kohli. Rohit Sharma was the designated skipper for the match. However, he got injured during the contest and wicketkeeper-batsman Rahul took over the captaincy reins.
Also read: India complete 5-0 clean sweep
India created history by completing a 5-0 whitewash over the hosts on Sunday (February 2). This was the first time in T20I history that a team had won by a margin of 5-0.
CHAMPIONS 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/PgwWZ2ElNR
— BCCI (@BCCI)Speaking after the match, Rahul said India is focused on winning the ICC T20 World Cup later this year in Australia. The Karnataka right-hander won the Man-of-the-series award. He scored 224 runs in five matches and also kept wickets.
“We are a young team, love spending time with each other, and there is absolutely no divide between the seniors and the juniors. We all have a common goal - to win games of cricket. We are all focused on winning the (T20) World Cup - that's a common goal, and we're trying to maximise our preparations for the World Cup,” Rahul, who scored 45, said.
He also said having such a team was coach and captain’s dream. “Every month we are playing so much, it's hard on the body as well, and for everyone to stay fit mentally and physically and perform like this is phenomenal. This team is a coach's dream and a captain's dream.”
India and New Zealand will now play three ODIs followed by two Tests. The first ODI is on February 5 in Hamilton.
MUST WATCH: relish the 5-0 series sweep 🇮🇳🇮🇳
Post-win scenes from Tauranga - by and the fielding coach
Full Video here 👉👉 https://t.co/58zo6gUOMv pic.twitter.com/ozPNd6nSem
T20Is
1st T20I (January 24) – Auckland – India won
2nd T20I (January 26) – Auckland – India won
3rd T20I (January 29) – Hamilton – India won
4th T20I (January 31) – Wellington – India won
5th T20I (February 2) – Mount Maunganui – India won
ODIs (All matches start at 7.30 AM IST)
1st ODI (February 5) - Hamilton
2nd ODI (February 8) - Auckland
3rd ODI (February 11) - Mount Maunganui
Tests (All matches start at 4 AM IST)
1st Test (February 21-25) - Wellington
2nd Test (February 29-March 4) - Christchurch
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