Virat Kohli feels T20 defeats against South Africa will serve as a "blessing in disguise" for India

Kohli feels that the losses against South Africa will force India to work on their team combination

Virat Kohli is hopeful that India’s T20 series loss against South Africa will serve as a “blessing in disguise” for India in their lead up to the 2016 World T20, IBN Live reports. The Delhi cricketer expressed satisfaction about his personal form and is also confident that India can changes their fortunes around in the T20 format.

The third and final T20 at Eden Gardens was washed out without a ball being bowled meaning the first leg of South Africa’s tour of India ended on a disappointing note for the hosts on Thursday as rains played spoilsport in their efforts to record a consolation victory after losses in the first two T20s handed South Africa the series 2-0.

Looking back on the series, Kohli expressed his disappointment at how the series had panned out, especially with the series being held in India.

"As a team it hurts you because you are playing at home. We are more used to the conditions than South Africa are,” Kohli said.

India had played three T20s since the culmination of the 2014 World T20 held in Bangladesh, where they reached the final, prior to the T20s against the Proteas and Kohli felt that could have been a factor in the defeats. With the team scheduled to play a number of matches in the format in the lead up to the 2016 World T20 to held in India, the 26-year-old is confident that the Indian cricket team will come good in the format sooner rather than later.

“But we have not played too many T20 games since the World Cup last year,” Kohli said. “We have a lot of T20 games now, going forward into the World T20. The key is not to be too hard on ourselves, and we just need to learn from these games. It is actually a blessing in disguise to work out our combination before the big event."

Kohli, the Indian skipper in the Test format, does not feel the pressure of captaincy has any effect on his batting and also expressed confidence about his form.

"My mental set-up does not really change (whether I am captain or not)," he said. "I am feeling pretty good. I am batting quite well since Sri Lanka and have been talking a lot with (batting coach) Sanjay Bangar and we felt I am hitting the ball a lot better than I ever have. I just have to work on my balance at the crease and my contact points.”

Talking about his knock of 43 from 27 balls in the 1st T20, where he played a supporting role in the record 138-run partnership for the 2nd wicket with centurion Rohit Sharma, Kohli said that it was an unusual knock for him.

"Dharamsala was a first experience of playing a different sort of role, just taking singles and giving Rohit (Sharma) the strike. In the second game, unfortunately, I got run out. It happens in international cricket. But personally, pretty happy with the way I am hitting the ball," Kohli said.