Series still open

Winning and losing is a part and parcel of any game and hence we should accept our Men in Blue defeat at Rajkot.

The England team should be lauded for their remarkable recovery from Varun blows, from 147 for 9 in 17 overs to set up a defend-able target of 172. No doubt, it was an achievable target for our batsmen. But, our top order batsmen had no patience and gifted their wickets to the England bowlers.

Thankfully Hardik Pandya came to form, with both bat and ball, to reduce the margin of our defeat. We sorely missed Arshadeep Singh, who could have saved some runs at the death overs, which Shami and Pandya failed to curtail.

Anyway, the series is still open and we are confident that our team could bounce back in the next game and seal the series.

Vinay Mahadevan,

Al Nahada, Dubai