3 costly mistakes India made in the 3rd T20I vs Australia
Team India unraveled in the third T20I against Australia as a stunning Glenn Maxwell century took the visitors over the line off the last ball with five wickets to spare in Guwahati on Tuesday, November 28.
Ruturaj Gaikwad's sensational innings went in vainm as the Men in Blue lost the contest despite posting an impressive 222-3 in their 20 overs after being asked to bat by Matthew Wade.
There were several reasons for India's loss, which allowed the Aussies a way back into the series. The rubber is now delicately poised at 2-1 in favor of the hosts, and they will need to reflect on their shoddy performance and right their wrongs ahead of the next T20I.
Here are three mistakes made by Team India that cost them the third T20I against Australia.
#3 If not now, when will India use a sixth bowler?
This is a pattern that has been seen throughout the first three games of the series, which have all been high-scoring encounters. Despite their frontline bowlers being taken for runs, India have steadfastly refused to use a sixth bowling option.
Prasidh Krishna bowled an atrocious first two overs, while Arshdeep Singh was also quite expensive. Yet, Suryakumar didn't turn to either Tilak Varma or Yashasvi Jaiswal.
SKY should've gotten them involved not just for the scope of the third T20I but also because that's something India need to work towards in the long run: having top-order batters who are reliable enough with the ball if needed.
Using an over or two from a part-time spinner would've solved another problem for the hosts.
#2 India's over rate forced an additional fielder in the ring for the last over
Prasidh Krishna's lines and lengths were all over the place in the last over. The first ball he bowled to Matthew Wade, a short one at the batter's body, when only three fielders were on the leg-side, was simply inexcusable.
Nevertheless, India did themselves no favors with their over rate, which required them to have an extra fielder inside the ring for the all-important final over. The home spinners are two of the quickest through their overs, but Suryakumar and his men still weren't on time.
Two of the boundaries in the last over, a pull from Wade and a heave into the leg-side from Maxwell, could've been avoided if India had the luxury of five fielders outside the ring.
#1 Axar Patel's last over came too late
India's spinners fared much better than the fast bowlers in the third T20I, even though a good amount of dew was expected in the second innings. Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel helped the Men in Blue exercise some control over the middle overs, with the former picking up two wickets.
Axar, too, bowled superbly in his first three overs. The left-arm spinner conceded just three runs in his first over, which was the ninth of Australia's innings. His next two overs went for 16 runs, which was still well below the asking rate. He even picked up Marcus Stoinis' wicket off the last ball of his third over.
However, Suryakumar opted not to bowl Axar out. The Indian captain eventually needed to get an over out of his all-rounder, and that turned out to be in the 19th of the innings. Twenty-two runs came off that over, with a couple of blunders from Ishan Kishan and a negative match-up in Matthew Wade destroying Axar's figures.
Why didn't SKY just bowl four overs of Axar on the trot and get them out of the way?