Chasing 187 runs to win, Indian skipper Virat Kohli led the way with the bat and scored a fantastic 85 off just 61 balls including four fours and three sixes.
However, former Indian fast bowler Ashish Nehra believes that the 32-year-old will be gutted that he couldn’t take his team across the line, despite being well-set.
Ashish Nehra also feels that Kohli could have accelerated a bit more in the middle-overs, but the Men in Blue kept on losing wickets at regular intervals.
A fighting partnership between Kohli and Hardik Pandya saw India take the game deep with 43 runs required off the final 3 overs. But Pandya’s wicket proved to be the final nail in their coffin.
In the end, the asking-rate was too much to achieve, even for someone of Virat Kohli’s potential.
Sending Hardik Pandya at No.6 was a big mistake: Ashish Nehra
Hardik Pandya’s blistering knock of 42 off just 22 balls had won India the previous T20I. He had come out to bat at No.5 in that game. Thus, Ashish Nehra was baffled to see Shreyas Iyer walk in ahead of Pandya at No.5 in the third T20I.
The move didn’t pay off as Iyer was dismissed for a golden duck. According to Nehra, this just increased the pressure on both Virat Kohli and Pandya and cost India the game in the end.
With the honors evenly shared in the ODI and the T20I series, the focus now shifts to the all important Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The first Test between India and Australia will be played at Adelaide from December 17 and will be a Day-Night encounter.
0 votes
