I am hitting the ball a lot better than I ever have, says Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli says it hurts to lose matches at home. (Source: AP)

Virat Kohli said the defeats against South Africa in the first two Twenty20 Internationals will act as “a blessing in disguise” for India ahead of the ICC T20 World Cup to be held in the country next year.

India lost by seven and six wickets respectively to give South Africa an unassailable 0-2 lead in the three match ongoing series.

Kohli added it definitely hurts to lose matches on home conditions.

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“As a team it hurts you because you are playing at home. We are more used to the conditions than South Africa are. But we have not played too many T20 games since the World Cup last year,” Kohli said ahead of the third and final Twenty20 against South Africa at the Eden Gardens on Thursday.

“We have a lot of T20 games now, going forward into the World T20. The key is not be 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,” he said.

Kohli is unperturbed whether he is leading the side or not but said he is quite happy with his own form at present.

“My mental set-up does not really change (whether I am captain or not),” said Kohli, who is the captain of India’s Test team.

“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.

“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,” he said.