IND vs AUS | Middle over phase during our batting cost us the game, feels Virat Kohli
Kohli made 85 in the chase
|Virat Kohli has stated that India failing to capitalize after the powerplay cost India dearly as the visitors lost the third T20I in Sydney by 12 runs. The Indian skipper has also asked the team to take the competitive nature into the Test series and perform as a unit.
Virat Kohli played a dream T20 innings but with a caveat. The middle-over phase between the 7th and 14th over saw the Indian team scoring just one boundary which mounted the required run rate above 15. It was never an ideal position to be in and once India got into that position, regular dismissals took the game away from the visitors. Kohli pointed that out as the major reason behind the loss but added that Hardik’s charge gave India hope.
“At one stage when Hardik started going we thought we could pull it off. The middle over phase during our batting cost us the game. A partnership of 30-odd would've made it easier for Hardik. We are finding ways to come back and give the opposition a scare and the series win is a little asterisk for us to finish the 2020 season on a high,” Kohli said in the post-match presentation.
With Sydney allowing full capacity crowd in the third T20I, the Indian fans filled the coffers majorly, with the Australian fans being the minority. India capitalised on that and Kohli stated that crowds always make for a great contest.
“I feel the crowd was a factor as well, it's always giving you a dimension of motivation. Our crowd pulls us through sometimes, and Australia's too, and we as players feed off the crowd's energy.”
Kohli will only partake in the first Test match, which will be played under lights in Adelaide, before returning to India for the birth of his first child. But given the second warm-up game will be a D/N affair, Kohli is planning to take part in that one.
“We need to take the same competitive attitude into the Tests, and having played here a few times, we can score runs as well. Once it's time to capitalize and score, we need to do that session by session. I'm sure the current side is stronger than last time (Test matches) and I'll see if I can play the tour match.”
