'A firm believer in your best batters batting up front' - Kevin Pietersen analyses India's 26-run loss against England
The hosts failed to chase down the 172-run target set by England.
The third T20I of the five-match series between India and England at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot was won by the latter by 26 runs. First, the visitors recovered from a middle-order implosion to post 171 on the board. The second-half of the game firmly belonged to the English bowling unit, who stuck to their guns and defended their score successfully.
Former English cricketer, Kevin Pietersen, felt sending Dhruv Jurel at No. 8 was not the right call taken by the Indian management.
"India didn't get the batting order right. Dhruv Jurel is an accomplished batter. Having him lower down the order for the left and right combination was not right. I'm a firm believer in your best batters batting up front," shared Pietersen during the post-match interaction on Star Sports.
Former Indian wicketkeeper-batter, Parthiv Patel, resonated with Pietersen's sentiments.
"Left and right combination is alright till No. 4 but after that, you should send your best batters. Jurel is a proper batter. He could have constructed a big innings," reasoned Patel.
Notably, Jurel came in as a replacement for the injured Rinku Singh after the series opener. The batter has not had a good series so far, registering scores of 4 and 2 in the second and third match, respectively.
England register statement win, keep series alive
As for England, they were quite clinical in how they conducted themselves on Tuesday, January 28. Speaking about their batting, they started and ended with a bang. Ben Duckett and Liam Livingstone were England's top-scorers with 51 and 43, respectively.
They never let the hosts run away with the game during the run-chase. Excellent displays from Jamie Overton and Adil Rashid were the main reasons for their side to stay alive in the series. With the win, the margin becomes 2-1 in favour of India. The fourth and fifth T20Is will be played in Pune and Mumbai, respectively.
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