Indian skipper Virat Kohli acknowledged that his batsmen should have done a better job in the 4th ODI against Australia but he also went on to say that the loss actually happened because of a rare off-day.

India lost the Bengaluru ODI by 21 runs and it was their first defeat after nine consecutive wins. Australia made 334 for five and while chasing 335, India fell short with 313 for eight in 50 overs.

During the post-match presentation, Virat said, “Honestly at the 30-over mark, they were going strong. I thought if we restricted them under 350, it would be a great effort, and we did do that. We were optimistic about our chances. We got a good opening partnership but we needed one big partnership as well. From that point of view, it wasn’t a great batting performance from us. That can happen. People have off days.”

Indian team management made three changes in the playing XI with Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Shami and Axar Patel replacing Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and Kuldeep Yadav.

Talking about the changes, Kohli said, “Umesh and Shami bowled well. Spinners won’t always have good days. Australia were really good today. With the bat, their intent was really good. They pulled things back nicely in the field. We didn’t play so badly, but they were better on the day. The only respite for the fast bowlers was taking the pace off the deliveries. The pitch looked worse than it played. It played very well and surprised all of us.”

On the other hand, the Australian skipper Steve Smith was relaxed after getting win a match on the tour. He said, “Nice to get a win in. Warner and Finch were spectacular. They really paced their innings nicely and set us up to get 330 plus. We lost a few wickets again but Handscomb was very good at the end. Nice little cameo to get us to 334.”