Virat Kohli (L) scored a half-century while KL Rahul scored 32 in the third ODI vs Australia.© AFP
Former India pacer Zaheer Khan feels that KL Rahul‘s wicket was the turning point in the third ODI between India and Australia on Wednesday. Chasing a target of 270 runs at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium, the hosts were in control when KL Rahul and Virat Kohli were at the crease with a 69-run stand between them for the third wicket. In a bid to score quickly, Rahul, who had started attacking the Australian bowlers by then, perished for 32 as he failed to clear Adam Zampa‘s delivery over the long-on.
What followed was a cluster of wickets as India failed to put up a noticeable partership after that. The Rohit Sharma-led side was eventually bundled out for 248, losing the game by 21 runs.
“For the larger part of the chase, India was controlling. I think it (was) just KL Rahul’s wicket at that stage was maybe the start of the turning point because that is when Axar (Patel) walked in, then he got run out. Then Hardik (Pandya) and Virat (Kohli) tried to steady the ship again, which put pressure on Virat as well. He had to again change the gear and then look to consolidate. We did mention that (on) Chennai kind of a pitch, one wicket can bring two and that really adds the pressure,” said Zaheer on Cricbuzz.
The former pacer feels that India could have taken the game deep before looking to change gears.
“You got to push the game as deep as possible. That is something which was missing. There was some anxiety. Maybe it was just creating that move on a tad early maybe because just before KL Rahul got out, he was starting to play big shots forcefully,” he added.
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