India captain Virat Kohli blamed India’s below-par batting in the middle-overs phase for India losing the third and final T20 International at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) here on Tuesday.
Australia won the final tie of the white-ball series by 12 runs as India failed to complete a whitewash in the three-match T20I contest. Kohli said that India batsmen left a bit too much for Hardik Pandya towards the end.
“We had a chance when Hardik and I were batting (the two brought the equation down to 43 off 18 balls). But the middle-over phase, when we were batting, was the phase that cost us the game. If we had one partnership of 25 or 30, it would have meant that Hardik would have arrived when we needed 60 and not 80. His job would have become easier,” said Kohli after Tuesday’s match.
Kohli, however, was happy with the way the team played the limited-overs series and he was quite happy with the competitiveness they showed even in the last, inconsequential T20.
“This game was still competitive. We were still in it, we have shown throughout the limited-over series that we are still finding ways to come back into the game and give the opposition a scare and the (T20I) series win is a nice little asterisk for us finishing limited-overs leg on a high,” added Kohli.
India won the T20I series 2-1 but had lost the ODI series before this by the same margin. Kohli said that he enjoyed playing in front of a packed house at the SCG. He added that as players, they feed off crowd support.
“We are just happy. I honestly feel the crowd was a factor as well (in India performing well). It is great that we can play in front of crowds. Gives you motivation. Our fans pulled us through. You love riding momentum and energy and that is why it is exciting in the limited-overs leg. We players feed off the crowds who are a big factor,” he added.
