Virat Kohli regretted India’s fielding average after the team suffered a 66-run loss to Australia in the series opener at SCG on Friday. India was rusty on the field, and while there weren’t too many missed sacks, the small error in the trials highlighted how the team was probably getting used to playing international cricket after nine months.
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At 37 India had a chance to send Steve Smith back, but Shikhar Dhawan misjudged long and ran too deep. Three overs later, Yuzvendra Chahal came close to making a surprising catch to eliminate Aaron Finch, but couldn’t. hold the ball with your short, thin leg. Smith and Finch went on to get centuries right.
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Later in ’43, Hardik Pandya landed a bullet hit from Glenn Maxwell and helped stop him over the ropes and in the next, a diving Shreyas Iyer couldn’t reach the ball in time as he beat him to The limit. Also, there was a field error from Mayank Agarwal that resulted in a four.
After the match, Kohli explained what could have been the reason behind India’s carelessness. “I have enough time to prepare. Don’t think there can be excuses, ”he said. “Probably the first long game we’ve played in a long time has been playing T20 cricket. It’s probably something that can have an effect. Body language was not good after around 25 overs. If you don’t take a chance against a high-quality opponent, they will make you pay. “
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In addition to fielding, the Indian bowlers had a day off with the ball as Australia hit them to put 374/6 on the board, their highest ODI total against India. The lack of a sixth pitcher was visible with Hardik Pandya still unable to pitch due to the risk to his back. India showed spark in batting with Pandya and Dhawan playing punching shots but managed 308/8 in response.
“Unfortunately, Hardik is not fit enough to go bowling, and we don’t have any other full options to choose from, someone like Stoinis or Maxwell,” Kohli noted.
“From a hitting point of view, now we had a short chat. All the hitters committed to him and that’s why you saw us play with intention. I think we gave ourselves the best chance. Hardik’s entries were the best example of that. As a batting unit, we committed very well to positive cricket and we will do so in the future as well. “
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