India vs Australia | Never thought we'd be in this situation but Jasprit Bumrah can do wonders, reckons Virat Kohli

02/25/2019

Virat Kohli has said that he never thought of his team being in any sort of situation to win the game but players like Jasprit Bumrah can do wonders for the team. He has also mentioned that India's batting was not up to the mark as they ended up only getting a mere 126/7 in their innings.

With only 127 on the board, at one stage India looked completely out of the first T20 game when Australia were cruising at 88/2 going into the 14th over. But combined efforts from bowlers like Krunal Pandya, Mayank Markande and Bumrah, who gave away only 12 runs between the 17th, 18th and 19th over towards the end, made sure it wasn't that easy victory for Australia. However, the visitors managed to go past the finishing line off the last delivery to take an unbeatable 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

“Very pleased with the bowling effort, never thought we'd be in this situation but Bumrah can do wonders, even Mayank bowled brilliantly, I thought," Kohli said at the post-match presentation.

Although the bowlers weren't up to the mark, it was the Indian batting which was hugely disappointing on a slow Vizag track with only the likes of KL Rahul and MS Dhoni managing significant contributions after Australia won the toss and opted to bowl.

"In the first innings, we were not up to scratch. The wicket was decent enough till the 15th over. We didn't bat really well. A low scoring game is always on the cards in T20 cricket.” the Indian skipper said.

Kl Rahul, who came back in the side after his suspension earlier this year, scored a half-century off 36 balls while Dhoni made an unbeaten 29 to help India reach a respectable 126/7 in 20 overs. Kohli scored 24 but the rest didn't even reach double digits which led to India's fall. Meanwhile, Rishabh Pant who got a go at the no.4 position threw the opportunity as he was dismissed for three.

"We want to give game time to Rahul and Pant to figure out what we need to do in the World Cup. I think he (Rahul) played a really good knock, we had a good partnership. 150 would have been a winning score the way the pitch played. Australia deserved to win as they played better than us," Kohli added.

India will be getting a chance to bounce back and level the series when they will be hosting Australia in the second and final T20I at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on February 27.

Get updates! Follow us on

Open all