World Cup 2019: Chase gets debated, Kohli stays calm

The onus was on Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav to get the big shots going, but the duo found the going tough.

Kohli: "When (Rishabh) Pant and Pandya were in there we thought we had a decent chance. But England were better on the day."

India's 338-run chase against England struggled to get going at the start and then fizzled out at the end. Hardik Pandya blazed away, but England stifled him with smart field placements.

The onus was on Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav to get the big shots going, but they found the going tough. Pandya's dismissal put the breaks on India's surge and the team lost its unbeaten tag as limped to 306 with five wickets to spare. Former India captain Sourav Ganguly, in the commentary box, found this inexplicable and said so. 

In the post-match presentation, captain Virat Kohli said, "They (England) bowled in good areas and the ball was stopping, hence it was difficult to bat towards the end." He was responding to Sanjay Manjrekar's question on India's effort towards the end.

Kohli added, "It's up to discussions with the two guys who were in there. We thought if we get a start we can get it but that didn't happen, we still had a partnership. When (Rishabh) Pant and Pandya were in there we thought we had a decent chance. But England were better on the day," he added.India's unbeaten run in the tournament ended at Edgbaston, but Kohli took the defeat in stride.

"Look, every team has lost a a game here and there. No one likes to lose but you have to accept the other side played better. The mood is absolutely same in the change room, we understand as professional cricketers it's a setback," he said. 

"The toss was vital, especially looking at the boundary that was quite short. I think it was 59 metres, which coincidentally is the minimum amount required in an international match. Quite bizarre on a flat pitch. It's crazy that things fall in place like that randomly. But we should have been clinical because the wicket was flat.

"We could have accelerated and got closer to their total. If batsmen are able to reverse sweep you for six on a 59-metre boundary, there is not much you can do. And one side was 82 metres. Look, they had to be a bit smart in the lines they bowled, but you can't do much with a short boundary."India needs one more win to seal a semifinal berth. The Men in Blue take on Bangladesh on Tuesday, and Sri Lanka on Saturday.