India captain Virat Kohli yesterday defended his decision to bowl on a flat track and said a lucky reprieve for centurion Fakhar Zaman proved to be a costly one in the Champions Trophy final against Pakistan yesterday.

"Small margins can be massive but we've only lost a game of cricket, we need to move forward and learn from our mistakes. The pitch was consistent throughout, we backed our strengths (to chase)," said Kohli after Pakistan outplayed India by 180 runs to win their maiden ICC Champions Trophy. Zaman was batting on four when he edged one to MS Dhoni before the umpires checked that bowler Jasprit Bumhrah had overstepped. Kohli also said he backed his boys to chase in the title clash.