New Delhi | Former captain Sunil Gavaskar says India's failure to make good starts cost them the ODI series against New Zealand and the team's batters should take a leaf out of Virat Kohli's book to understand how an innings should be paced while chasing difficult targets.

India went down in the third and final ODI in Indore by 41 runs to lose their first ever 50-over home series against New Zealand, continuing the trend of recent underwhelming results. Kohli top-scored with a 108-ball 124 but could not get a stable partner to steer the challenging chase of 338.

"Unless Virat Kohli got substantial support, it was always going to be difficult, and he got very little of it. The real problem for India throughout the series has been the starts. As they say, well begun is half done,"Gavaskar said on 'Amul Cricket Live' on JioStar.

"India never began well, and that's one of the main reasons they weren't able to chase these big scores," he pointed out.

India had lost half the side at 159, which severely dented their chances.

"...when you lose someone in good form like KL Rahul, and you have Nitish Kumar Reddy, who hadn't really done justice to his ability until this innings of 53 runs and then Harshit Rana, someone you are never quite sure what you are going to get, it becomes an uphill climb. That's exactly what India found," Gavaskar explained.

The legendary former batter lauded Kohli for trying till the end and urged the others to emulate his mindset and consistency.

"The thing about him is that he's not tied down to an image. A lot of batters and bowlers are constrained by how they're perceived, and they feel they must live up to that image. Virat isn't like that," he said.

"He's tied to the job at hand, and that job is to score runs. Sometimes, that means starting watchfully and then opening up. Sometimes, it means attacking early and then spreading the field and picking up ones and twos. He's not governed by expectations of how he should play," he added.

"That temperament is the key. He doesn't think, 'I'm expected to hit a six.' He plays according to the situation. He never gives up. Even till the end, he was trying. For youngsters, that's the biggest lesson, don't live up to an image. Play the situation, and you'll be far more consistent than you ever imagined." On Harshit Rana's lower-order half century that raised hopes of an unlikely win, Gavaskar said he was impressed by his ability to stay in the moment and not let past failures affect him mentally.

"It was a very good innings by Harshit Rana. He batted exactly like a lower-order batter should, without worry and without expectations...What impressed me was that Harshit didn't get hassled by earlier failures, especially with someone like Virat Kohli at the other end," he said.