Kohli: We wanted to see players' reaction to pressure

Virat Kohli is not overtly worried about Indias defeat in T20I series — Virat Kohli is not overtly worried about India's defeat in T20I series

Bengaluru, February 28: Virat Kohli did not read too much into India's T20I series loss to Australia and said it gave India a chance to try out a few players under pressure and gauge their reaction. Kohli also lauded Glenn Maxwell for coming up with a brutal hundred in the second match at the M Chinnaswamy stadium here on Wednesday.

Kohli downplayed the series defeat because of its short nature and hoped India will bounce back in the ODI series, starting on March 2 at Hyderabad with the first ODI.

1. Kohli's assessment

"Pretty short series to summarise the performances. Australia outplayed us in all departments and deserved to win. 190 is a good total on most grounds but if there is so much dew as there was tonight (on Wednesday) and when you have an innings like what Glenn Maxwell played, nothing much you can do," Kohli, who himself scored an unbeaten 72, said.

2. What India gained from the series

"We would have liked to get across the line at least in this game but I can't be too hard on the bowlers due to the amount of dew. We wanted to give everyone some game time, we've seen how they react under pressure, there is a series coming up and we'll try more things. It's upto them to deliver the goods. The good thing was that the Bangalore wicket was back to normal and you could trust the lengths. I enjoyed myself but it didn't really matter as we lost the game," he said.

3. Maxwell elated

Maxwell was named Man of the Match and Man of the Series. The Australian said he is now more confident about his game and wanted to take the responsibility of getting Australia over the line.

"It feels really good. We haven't had a lot of success here of late. To come over here and perform like we have has started it off well for us on this tour. Having confidence in my game also has helped a lot and it feels great to contribute to two special wins," he said. "It was a pretty good wicket and we could afford to wait for the loose balls. We knew that it could be easier against the quicks, anything around 12 runs per over, we fancied to chase that down. After D'Arcy's dismissal, it was upto me to drive the rest of the innings. Handscomb did a great job in giving me the strike. We had a lot of chaos in the last game but we corrected that."

4. Finch lauds Maxwell, Zampa

Australia captain Aaron Finch lauded Maxwell but was equally effusive of was Adam Zampa's (0/23) spell. "Anytime that you can win any kind of series against India in India is truly special. Glenn Maxwell was truly sensational tonight but I thought Adam Zampa was the difference between the two sides. To go for just 23 runs on that kind of a wicket was really remarkable," he said. "We've been on a journey for the last 10-11 months building upto the World Cup and there has been some pain during the journey. We've done well to take the blows but also have made some progress, hoping to peak at the right time for the World Cup."