Defeat in T20I series a 'wake up call' for India, says Kohli's mentor

Virat Kohli

Indian skipper Virat Kohli's mentor and childhood coach Raj Kumar Sharma has termed team's 2-0 loss at the hands of Australia in the recently-concluded T20I series as a 'wake up call' for them.

Sharma said that after giving a dominant performance in Australia and New Zealand, the defeat came as a big surprise and that India need to give a befitting reply to the visitors in the upcoming ODI series.

The coach expressed hope that India would enter into the ODI series with a changed attitude. "The ODI series will be important for India as they lost both the T20s. The defeat came as a big surprise. It is a wakeup call for India. It is time to regroup. They need to fight again and give Australia a befitting reply to prove that they are the best side when it comes to one-day format,"ÂÂu00c2u009d the coach told ANI.

"Team have done well in the past and in the ODIs, hopefully, we will see a different team," he added. Pointing out the lacking points during the T20I series, Sharma said that the bowlers did not perform as per the expectations and India paid the price for it. The coach further maintained that India missed the services of spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the series.

"We did mistakes in T20I series. Our bowlers lagged behind. It was clear from the way Australians chased down 190 so easily in the second match and the way Maxwell batted in the match. We did not go for wickets,"ÂÂu00c2u009d he said.

"(Yuzvendra)Chahal could have proved to be a danger factor for the Australians but Maxwell's counter-attack vanished that chance, as well. India missed Kuldeep Yadav in the series,"ÂÂu00c2u009d he added.

Talking about India's batting department, Sharma said that it is very crucial for top-order batsman Shikhar Dhawan to get back into the form as it has been a long time since he has played a big inning. India and Australia are slated to play a five-match ODI series from March 2 to 13.

Catch up on all the latest T20 news and updates here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever