India vs Australia 2018-19: I'm Happy The Way I Made My Comeback: Krunal Pandya

The India-Australia T20I series could not have ended on a better note for Krunal Pandya. After a disastrous outing in the first game, he starred with the ball to help India level the series.

Team India sprung a huge surprise by including Krunal Pandya in the team at the expense of Yuzvendra Chahal for the first T20I in Brisbane.

Krunal had made his T20I debut during the series against Windies earlier this month. And although, he played all the three games, he could not make much of a mark. The allrounder picked up one wicket in the first game but went wicketless in the following two while conceding 40 and 55 runs.

But the team-management cared little about the stats as it pinned its hope on Krunal. And unfortunately, the move badly backfired. Krunal ended up conceding 55 runs in four overs including three sixes in a row in his third over. He also failed to pick up a single wicket. His costly spell made the difference in the end as India lost the thrilling game by just 4 runs.

Krunal, however, did well in the second game, conceding 26 runs while picking the important wicket of Glenn Maxwell.

The team-management showed its faith in the third game too and could not have asked for a better performance from the newcomer.  The left-armer bagged 4 for 36 to win his maiden Man of the Match award while also becoming the first spinner to pick up four wickets in a T20I in Australia.

Speaking after the match, he admitted that he was low on confidence after the Brisbane game.

“It was very difficult for me in the next 24 hours to convince myself,” Krunal said at the press conference on Sunday (November 25). “This was just my second series and my first time in Australia. They hammered me in my four overs for 53 [55]. To come out of that, it was not easy to be honest. It took me a while, I had to back myself much more.

“When you give 53 [55] runs, having hardly played games at this level, to come out of that I was really happy. Those kind of hurdles, when you overcome that you feel really good about it. As a bowler and as a player you have to understand that this is T20 format and it’s part and parcel – one day you’ll get hit, one day you’ll pick up wickets. I’m happy the way I made my comeback and just want to continue this,” Krunal added.

Riding on Krunal’s show, India managed to restrict Australia to 164 for 6. In reply, the visitors were off to a stunning start. Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan added 67 runs in just 5.3 overs. However, the dismissal of both the openers in quick succession followed by the wickets of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant saw India getting reduced to 108 for 4. But an unbeaten 60-run stand between Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik took the team home.

“Obviously it went slightly tricky (in the latter part of the match). Initially, with the way we started we didn’t think that it will go this close,” said Krunal. “In the end, when Virat is there, he’s done this a number of times. So we had the belief. Plus Dinesh was also there and I was also there, there were other batsmen as well. The belief was always there but having Virat in the middle is something different.”