IND vs SL | Manish Pandey and Shardul Thakur helped us today, reveals Virat Kohli

Following India’s handsome victory in the third and final T20I against Sri Lanka, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said that the team has improved incredibly with the bat, ball and in the field. Further, Kohli pointed out that it was important to give an opportunity to Manish Pandey and Shardul Thakur in the game as both of them had an immediate impact on the game. 

While Pandey upped his batting form with a 31 off just 18 deliveries, his partner at the other end, Shardul Thakur scored an 8-ball 22 giving India the push above the 200-run mark batting first in the 3rd T20I. Further, he was very happy with the fact that India won one game while chasing before they defended successfully in the finale. 

“A good start to this year. We started on the right track, chasing one game and setting the other. Very clinical as well, so I am very happy. Just the confidence of getting that 200-run mark will help us. The middle collapse was challenging but what Manish and Shardul did in the end really helped,“ said Kohli in the post-match presentation.

Further, he pointed out how valuable the performance from the middle order was to help the team get out of the top-order collapse. He also said that the top three (Rahul, Rohit and Dhawan) should not be pitted against each other as three of them are solid players in the T20 format. 

“We saw guys who turned up and who put their hands up when the senior guys don't perform and need more of this in the coming games as well. We wanted to plug some of the gaps. We started the series on the right track, chased one while defending the other,” he added.  

“All three (Rohit, Dhawan and Rahul) are solid players, it all boils down to who is batting better. Rohit has been a consistent performer. People must stop pitting people against each other and I don't believe in doing that at all.”