India vs England: Rahul’s a champion player and will continue to be among main batsmen: Kohli

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Bengaluru, March 16: Despite Virat Kohli’s blistering show with the willow, India fell to an eight-wicket loss to England in the third T20I at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

In the ongoing series, opening batsman KL Rahul has failed with the bat, as he registered scores of 1, 0 and 0. Despite his second consecutive duck, skipper Kohli backed the opener, saying he is a champion player and will continue to be one of the main batsmen of the side.

Speaking during the post match presentation ceremony, Kohli said, “I was going through a lean patch two days back. He (KL Rahul) has been a champion player. He’ll continue to be one of our main players along with Rohit at the top order. It’s a matter of five-six balls in this format.”

Kohli shone with the willow with an unbeaten knock of 77. But his valiant effort went in vain, as England, riding on Jos Buttler’s brilliant knock of 83, registered a comfortable win.

When asked about his own knock, the Indian captain said, “You don’t want to play knocks which don’t help the team in any way. It was a bit difficult to bat against the new ball. Their bowlers were hitting good areas. We got one little partnership, it was important for me to bat deep. The car was to get set and try to get a decent total.

“If you lose the toss, embrace what’s been asked of you. England bowlers were brilliant with the new ball, made our lives difficult. We tried to come back, I don’t think our body languor in the second innings was good,” stated the skipper.

With the win, England secured a 2-1 lead in the ongoing five-match T20 International series. The Eoin Morgan-led side will next face Kohli’s men in the fourth T20I on Thursday at the same venue.