Virat Kohli: ‘Batsmen let us down’

Summing up a rather abject performance, Kohli pinned the blame on batsmen for showing no application on the pitch.

The Indian captain defended the spinners, saying that the bowling was one of the few positives from the game.

Virat Kohli said that the team will take the loss in the first Test on its chin, and move on from there. Speaking after a humiliating 333-run loss, Kohli said. “We needed a reality check which we got. We had one bad game after 19 wins, and this happens in international cricket. Our mindset will remain the same, and surely come out stronger in the next game.”

Summing up a rather abject performance, Kohli pinned the blame on batsman for showing no application on the pitch. “This (the pitch) was not different from any other turner. We lacked the application to play, and if you don’t apply yourself then you can get out on flat tracks, and make any bowling look good. The way we batted in the first innings, we put ourselves under too much pressure. The batting let us down.”

Virat Kohli Presser

 

The Indian captain defended the spinners, saying that the bowling was one of the few positives from the game.

India went into the game, with six batsman and five bowlers, but Kohli felt that the combination didn’t really matter. “This question wouldn’t arise had we won, we wanted 20 wickets and hence went with five bowlers. You can’t drop five catches of one batsman, lose seven wickets for 11 runs and expect to win. We won’t think much about this loss, and look to move on quickly from here. It’s a big series and a lot of cricket is still left.”