It was typical Indian wicket, took us out of our comfort zone, says Morgan

India captain Virat Kohli led from the front while Ishan Kishan scored a magnificent half-century on debut as hosts registered a seven-wicket win over England in the second T20I here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

Ahmedabad: After the defeat, England skipper Eoin Morgan said that it was a “typical Indian wicket” and it took them out of their comfort zone.

India captain Virat Kohli led from the front while Ishan Kishan scored a magnificent half-century on debut as hosts registered a seven-wicket win over England in the second T20I here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

With this win, the hosts had levelled the five-match series 1-1. Kohli had played an unbeaten knock of 73 runs while Kishan had scored 56 runs, helping the team chase down a target of 165 runs.

“I thought we probably could have been a bit more accurate in the lines and lengths that we bowled. I think the other night, the pitch really suited us, having more pace in it. It was similar to wicket at home, probably a Cardiff wicket or somewhere like that… But this took us out of our comfort zone today and really was a typical Indian wicket that we would play on in an IPL game. Again, your accuracy has to be on, and you are bowling to guys really on their home patch when you talk about a wicket like this,” Morgan said in the post-match press conference.

Also, during the match, India skipper Virat Kohli had become the first-ever batsman to score 3,000 runs in T20Is. The captain was just 72 runs behind from touching the landmark figure and with his knock of 73 runs, he crossed the 3,000-run mark. He now has 3,001 runs from 87 T20I matches.

Morgan said that India bowled well while admitting that “everything that we tried didn’t seem to work.”

“We don’t play a lot on slow, low wickets and the more that we can do that, the better. When you talk about posting a total on a wicket like that, I thought we were right in the game. We established partnerships, we got to the point where we tried to accelerate, but managed to lose wickets at different stages,” he said.

“Got to give India credit, they bowled well, having adapted and recognised what worked well on the wicket… I think debutant Ishan Kishan played pretty well and managed to take the game away from us, and everything that we tried didn’t seem to work,” Morgan added.
However, Morgan feels that the “more you play against somebody, the better you get naturally, just through the exposure.”

When asked his Kishan’s fearless batting display on his international debut was a surprise, Morgan said: “I think he (Kishan) clearly played well on his debut but it is not surprising, given the amount of IPL exposure that he has had and the success that he had in the IPL. That really bridges the gap between playing domestic cricket and playing international cricket.”
The third T20I between India and England will be played on Tuesday.