Australia's frontline pacer Josh Hazlewood said that Virat Kohli's dropped catch in the first powerplay overs was not as crucial as it is being considered in hindsight. Mitchell Marsh dropped Kohli’s catch and the latter went on to score 85 runs in the 165-run partnership with KL Rahul. Hazlewood did not blame Marsh as he felt Alex Carey’s initial movement caused the confusion.
"No, I don't think so (it played a role), it was quite early obviously when that catch was dropped," Hazlewood said at the post-match press conference on October 8.
"I didn't think Carey could get there. I think it was Mitch's catch and probably just Carey got quite close in the end so it might have just put Mitch off.
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“Yeah, he dropped a catch, it's one of those things that happens and everyone's training hard and working hard off the field to hang on to them. So, yeah, we'll continue on.”
Kohli was batting on 12 when his catch was dropped. Had Marsh taken his catch, India would have been 20/4, making it more difficult for the hosts to come back in the game. But Kohli and Rahul played out the new ball. Due to dew in Chennai, Australian spinners could not replicate what India's spin trio did in the first innings.
"We still felt that new ball was doing enough, whether it was in the air or off the wicket. We knew that spin was going to be tough to play, maybe not as tough as during the day, but still enough to play it.
"And, we certainly felt in the game for quite a while until obviously the partnership grew and grew and they sort of batted us out of it obviously. And yeah, I thought we did a reasonable job early in particular trying to defend 200.
"It obviously felt like it probably spun more in the first half. Definitely, the dew came in, but I think early in our bowling innings it was doing enough and it was still dry.
"The wicket was up and down a little bit so you felt in the game as a quick in particular I think, and then I think it got a little bit better to bat on right towards the end."
Hazlewood lauded Indian bowlers, especially Kuldeep Yadav who took the wicket of an in-form David Warner, and their experienced hard-hitter Glenn Maxwell.
"Yeah, I think he's (Kuldeep) obviously done really well over the last 12 or 18 months. He's always been a good player.
"We've found him tough to play against. Not often you come up against a left-arm leg spinner with great variations, so it's sort of something that's hard to practice against.
"And yeah, he's always been a good player to play against, so I think in general the three spinners bowled really well. They're all a little bit different obviously, but they know the conditions really well and bowled accordingly."
After the six-wicket loss to India, the five-time ODI World Cup champions will take on South Africa in Lucknow who destroyed Sri Lanka in their opening encounter.
"Around the country, it's such a big country and the conditions change.
"And, I think you've got to just land on the ground and try and sum up what you think is the best thing to do first and what's going to happen later on.
"It's sort of exciting that everywhere is a little bit different I think, and hopefully, we learn from tonight," he concluded.
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