Virat Kohli criticises India's attitude as England cruise to victory in third T20

NICK HOWSON: KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya have been given a vote of confidence by the captain, whose fabulous 77 was in vain

India v England: 3rd T20 scorecard

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India captain Virat Kohli has taken aim at his teammates after the hosts slumped to an eight-wicket defeat in the third T20 against England in Ahmedabad.

The tourists stormed into a 2-1 series lead after successfully chasing down 157 to win with 10 balls remaining.

Jos Buttler hit a career-best 83 not out after England had restricted India to 156 for 6 from their 20 overs.

Mark Wood was the stand-out performer with 3-31, while Chris Jordan collected two wickets as the home side struggled.

Indeed, their total would have been even worse had it not been for an inspired display from Kohli whose 77 included eight fours and four sixes.

Though England cruised to victory, they were helped by a below-par India display in the field which included two dropped catches and some lax ground fielding.

Kohli himself put down Buttler before Yuzvendra Chahal was unable to cling onto a Jonny Bairstow skier at third man.

After an error-strewn performance in the field in the first T20, the skipper was once again unimpressed with the attitude shown by his side.

"To be very honest the England bowlers were absolutely brilliant with the new ball," he admitted in the post-match interview.

"In the first six they didn't give us anything and it made life very difficult. They attacked the right lines and lengths and with their pace, they become potent with the new ball and with the wicket a bit tacky as well. 

"We tried to come back into the game as best we could but I don't think our body language in the second half was acceptable in the field. 

"Defending 160 you need a bit more intensity and that was lacking tonight."

India have the chance to bounce back in the fourth and fifth T20s on March 18 and 20 but have decisions to make over the formation of their XI.

^{KL Rahul made his second duck in a row after being bowled by Wood}

The greatest concern surrounds opener KL Rahul, who now has one run in his last four T20I innings. Hardik Pandya's role is also under scrutiny after he failed to make an impression as the third seamer - though both have been given a vote of confidence.

"He's been a champion player," Kohli added. "If you look at his stats in the last two-three years they are probably better than anyone in world cricket in T20s so he'll continue to be one of our main batters with Rohit at the top of the order. we don't have any concerns there. 

"T20 is a very instinctive game and we know once he starts playing positively and a few shots come off it is a matter of five or six balls in this format and you're back into that zone."

"We would have prefered to have bowled first. But having said that if you lose the toss, embraced what is being asked of you as a team."

On Pandya, he added: "We want to give Hardik a bit more responsibility with the ball; we know what he can do with the bat."

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