Let ourselves down with bat and it hurts, laments Kohli

CAPE TOWN: India skipper Virat Kohli accepted the batsmen didn’ t step up to the plate after the bowlers gave them a bright chance to win the first Test that they eventually lost by 72 runs.

“Losing wickets in bunches never helps winning Tests or consolidating your position. Also, we rectified the errors we made in the first innings by letting them off after having them at 12/3. We plugged that gap pretty nicely in the morning.”

“Getting them out for 130, 208 felt chaseable, felt very realistic; but again, we needed someone to go out there and get 75 or 80, and not 20-25-30 runs. We wanted one big partnership to get the job done, which we failed to do and again we lost four wickets in four overs. If you do that, it is very tough for you to come back.”

The next two Tests, in Centurion and Johannesburg, might have pitches with more bounce

and movement, but K oh li is backing his team to have another crack at South Africa. “Look, they had collapses too. Even in the first innings, if you take AB’s innings out, and Faf to an extent, the batting hasn’t clicked for them either.

“If we get a lively wicket again, we will really exploit those conditions. If we apply ourselves, we will give ourselves a chance to have a crack at the result, which was there in this game also. Not having got the job done hurts, and it should hurt because that’s the

only way you can rectify them istakes, and come out with more motivation. Even they got out for 130 and they play here all the time. It was a wicket where things were happening everyday. Look, we let ourselves down with the bat, that’s for sure,” he said.

Kohli defended Rohit’s selection ahead of Rahane. “We decided to go on current form. Rohit has scored runs in the last three Test she has played, and he was batting well... Shikhar as well. Look, these things can always be looked at in hindsight .”