On the eve of the second and final Twenty20 International against Australia, a confident Krunal Pandya said India are not losing consecutive games against the visitors.
"Tomorrow is a very important game as we are 0-1 down but I would not say that we have lost momentum. We lost the other night but we are not losing consecutive games. I am sure we will do well tomorrow," Pandya said on Tuesday.
India's three-wicket defeat in the last-ball thriller at Visakhapatnam on Sunday was their first loss in eight games at home. It was also the first time that India have lost two consecutive matches in T20Is since June 2016. Earlier in the month, India lost the series decider in New Zealand by four runs at Seddon Park, Hamilton.
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Pandya, 27, insisted that the team has not lost momentum despite losing the series opener and instead taken a lot of heart from "almost defending" 126 at Vizag.
He was the best spinner in the game while pacer Jasprit Bumrah bowled brilliantly in his comeback game to take the match into the final over after a pedestrian batting performance.
"It was a great bowling effort. Everyone chipped in and we almost defended the low total. We just have to be more cautious about our batting," he said.
The Baroda-based cricketer has become a regular in the playing eleven in the shortest format ever since making his debut in November.
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The all-rounder has played 10 games, taking 11 wickets at 30.00 with best figures of 4/36 coming against Australia in Sydney. He has batted only five times in the 10 games, scoring 70 runs at 23.33.
Talking about his batting position, he said that "Honestly, I am not thinking about where I want to bat. I am just focused on what is in my hands irrespective of the situation. I want to contribute with both bat and ball."
Pandya said it would be nice to have some part-time options in the team considering India only played five specialist bowlers in Vizag.
"All the five bowlers who played are all quality bowlers. All are match winners on a given day. If you have options it is good but whatever is there we are fine with that."
He also praised Australia for their effort on Sunday.
"History says they are a competitive side and we know that they will give 100 per cent every time they step on the field. We are mindful of that.
"The wicket looks good here. It will be better than Vizag for sure. So we expect more runs," he said.
Pandya knows that he may not be in the team's World Cup plans and despite the focus being on finalising the squad for the 50-over mega event, he said the second T20 is a "very important game".
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Earlier in the day, the Indian team had an extensive training session with skipper Virat Kohli leading from the front.
He was the first one to bat in the nets alongside Shikhar Dhawan before they switched to take throwdowns.
Mohammad Shami, Kuldeep Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who were rested for the series and have been training at the National Cricket Academy, joined their teammates briefly in the nets. Shami even had a decent bowling session.
Dhawan was rested from the first game with K L Rahul getting to open alongside Rohit Sharma but from the way the practice session went, there were no indications on what could be the opening combination on Wednesday.
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(With PTI inputs)
