India vs Australia 2019: 3 mistakes that cost India the first T20I

The first T20I between India and Australia turned out to be a low scoring thriller. The visiting team captain won the toss and opted to field first.

India went in with a couple of changes. Shikhar Dhawan was rested and KL Rahul opened with Rohit Sharma, while Mumbai Indians spinner Mayank Markande made his international debut.

The Men in Blue got off to a disastrous start as they lost Rohit's wicket early. Kohli and Rahul had a decent partnership, but once India lost Kohli, they lost their grip on the match.

Dhoni tried hard with the tail, but it was not his day and India could post just 126/7 in 20 overs.

Australia opened with a new combination, but it wasn't too successful as Marcus Stoinis got run out, while the Australia captain was dismissed for a golden duck on the very next ball.

Short and Maxwell pulled them out of trouble though. Maxwell scored an aggressive half-century to get back control of the game but once he got out, India tightened the screws. A brilliant 19th over from Bumrah left Umesh Yadav with 14 runs to defend in the final over.

However, his wayward bowling resulted in two boundaries, and India lost on the last ball. There were a few mistakes made by India which cost them the game. Let's have a look at them:

#1 Rishabh Pant run-out

Rishabh Pant

Once India lost Rohit Sharma, Indian captain Kohli and Rahul had a decent partnership. They added 55 runs for the second wicket but Kohli got out in the quest of upping the run rate.

The Indian middle order could have built on this start but they failed to capitalize. Pant came in after the Kohli dismissal, but when he was batting on just three, he smashed a ball towards point and tried to take a single even before the ball crossed the fielder.

Handscomb made a smart attempt to stop the ball, and at that time Pant was halfway down the track. It was bad judgment of a single from the young Indian wicket-keeper and his innings ended with a run-out.

After his dismissal, India kept losing wickets and that brought about their downfall. At one stage, they were looking at a 150+ score, but ultimately fell way short.

#2 Dhoni's failure to rotate strike

MS Dhoni

Cricket is a game of moments. A game can be lost by a matter of a few runs and that's why in cricket, every run is crucial. A fine example was presented in yesterday's match.

India was reeling at 100/6 when Dhoni came out to bat. He had to bat with the tail, as most of the established batsmen had returned to the pavilion. He tried to get the runs flowing, but wasn't able to connect with the ball properly.

The former Indian captain could have tried to take singles and doubles when he was unable to hit boundaries. While he was right in not giving the strike to the lower order batsmen, it might have cost India around 10 to 15 precious runs.

India lost the game in the last ball of the innings, hence those crucial runs might have turned the game in their favour.

#3 Bowling Umesh Yadav at the death

Umesh Yadav

It's become a common sight to see the Indian fast bowlers leaking runs in ODI cricket and yesterday's match was no different.

Umesh Yadav generally concedes a lot of runs in power-plays and during the death overs and as a result should have been used sparingly in those situations.

However, that was not the case. Umesh conceded three fours in his very first over and things only became worse from there on. He returned to bowl the final over but failed to defend 14 runs in six balls.

Ideally, the Indian captain should've bowled him out in the middle overs which would have given him the option to bowl his best bowlers towards the end.