Virat Kohli, the Indian captain justified his decision to bat first after winning the toss in the third T20I against South Africa, citing it as a way for his batsmen to come out of their “comfort zones”.
On a ground believed to be ideal for chasing in limited-overs cricket – Bangalore’s M. Chinnaswamy Stadium – Kohli’s decision to bat first surprised quite a few on Sunday, September 22, given India’s proven track record in T20I chases. As it turned out, South Africa chased down India’s 134-9 comfortably, with 3.1 overs remaining. The modern-day ‘chase-master’, who himself boasts an average of 81.23 while chasing in T20Is, explained the decision.
Captain de Kock (79*) guides South Africa to a 9-wicket win. The series ends with a 1-1 reading #TeamIndia #INDvSA @Paytm pic.twitter.com/FvhZuGfnCU
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 22, 2019
“The idea was to come out of our comfort zones,” Kohli said. “We felt that we’ve been 20-30 runs short while batting first in T20 cricket in the past and that has cost us games. So we wanted to bat first and try to put up a big score. After the start we got, being 63-1, we could’ve reassessed it to about 170 rather than thinking of 200, but we kept on losing wickets.”
“Not to take anything away from South Africa. They understood the pitch and hit the right areas. So it was a combination of good bowling and not great decision-making.”
Pant scored 19 off 20, while Iyer made 5 off 8, both of them falling to left-arm spinner Bjorn Fortuin in the 13th over of the innings.
“We had it planned according to phases. So, after 10 overs we decided Rishabh would walk in. Before that Shreyas had to walk in. So, I think both of them got confused and didn’t realise who had to walk in at what stage of the game.”
