Kolkata: Indian batsman Virat Kohli on Thursday said losing the Twenty20 series to South Africa will act as a blessing in disguise for India ahead of the T20 World Cup to be held in the country next year.
In the first two games in the series, which were held in Dharamsala and Cuttack, India lost by seven and six wickets respectively to give the Proteas the series win. The start of the third and final match on Thursday was delayed for more than three hours because of a wet outfield.
“As a team it hurts a lot when you lose playing at home. We are more used to the conditions here than the other team. But we have not played much T20 cricket since the World Cup,” Kohli said.
“We have a lot of games coming up, looking forward to the World T20. We should not be too hard on ourselves and take lessons from these games. It is actually a blessing in disguise to work out our combinations before the World T20.”
The Indian Test captain is also confident in his batting form and added that he has been hitting the ball well.
“I feel good, I have been batting quite well since Sri Lanka. I have been talking a lot with our batting coach Sanjay Bangar and I feel I am hitting the ball quite well. I just have to work on my balance at the crease and my contact points,” the 26-year-old said.
Meanwhile, after the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) asked the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) for a report on the unruly behaviour of the crowd at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Monday, OCA secretary Ashirwad Behera said water bottles will not be allowed inside the stadium from now on.
“We would inform the BCCI that such incidents will not be repeated in future. Water bottles will not be allowed inside the stadium and we will follow the guidelines of the ICC,” Behera said.
He added the cricket association would submit the report to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and hoped the parent governing body would express satisfaction over the reply.
Defending the selling of water bottles inside the stadium, the OCA secretary said spectators were allowed them on humanitarian grounds as they had to sit for four to five hours in the galleries.
He also hoped the BCCI would not ban the Barabati Stadium from hosting international matches.
During the second innings of the match on Monday, spectators at the Barabati Stadium disrupted the game by hurling plastic water bottles on to the field, forcing play to be stopped for several minutes on two occasions.
