The Indian team management wanted to try out different combinations, to find the ideal World Cup XI, in the One-Day International series against Australia.
After India’s series defeat at the Feroz Shah Kotla here on Wednesday, captain Virat Kohli was quick to point out that it would not be used as an excuse.
“We won’t use the experiments as an excuse for our loss. Anyone who plays for the country, you expect him to give his best. As a combination, we are very much sorted [for the World Cup]. Based on the condition, you’ll see only one change in the side. The 11 players that we wish to field, we are very much clear about it. Assuming we play the same 11 and they don’t give a winning performance, it doesn’t necessarily mean we chose the wrong guys,” he said at the post match press conference.
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The team will be better balanced with the arrival of Hardik Pandya, felt Kohli. “[For the World Cup] Hardik will join the side. His presence lends depth to batting and bowling, giving us more options. We know where we have to be. As a combination, about the playing XI, we are very clear. We will have to take good decisions in pressure situations to go far in the World Cup. As of now, we have no confusion regarding our team for the World Cup,” he reiterated.
Reflecting on the series defeat, he said, “The fact that [Australia] came and won here, it was a hard-fought series from their point of view. They played better cricket than us and they deserved to win the last three games. The first two games we showed composure. To be honest, it does not really feel like something off has happened, because we played some good cricket but lost three games out of a five-match series where the other team has been more passionate and more energetic than us in the pressure-moments. They grabbed the crucial moments in the game better than us. So they deserve to win.”
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Analysing the difference between the two teams, he said, “They were more composed and brave in the pressure moments. They won those important moments in the game. When you capitalise on every important moment in the game, as a side, it becomes very difficult to go past that side. The credit has to be given where it is due. We were certainly not up to the mark and they certainly were.”
However, the series defeat will not unduly worry the side, according to Kohli.
“None of the players in the change-room is panicking or the support staff is feeling down after this defeat because we knew the things that we wanted to do in the last three games, purely because you only have the World Cup after this. As a side, we feel pretty balanced,” he said.
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