‘Success in Aus will depend on lessons learnt in England’
Kohli wants batsmen to take ownership, complement bowlers
MUMBAI: India’s plans to upstage South Africa and England on their home turf came unstuck, and skipper Virat Kohli is determined his side put into practice lessons learnt from those setbacks when they land in Australia for the full tour starting later this month with T20s.
India have not won a Test series in Australia, and hopes of achieving that are up with Australia struggling as Steve Smith and David Warner serve their one-year bans. On Thursday, ahead of the team’s departure, Kohli urged his batsmen to raise their level if they are to turn things around overseas.
“There is lot of room for improvement, something we realise as a team. We understand what we need to work on, so it is up to the individuals to take ownership of that,” he said in a media interaction. Kohli stood out with the bat in the 1-2 defeat in South Africa and the 1-4 loss in England, but others didn’t.
“There were a lot of things we discussed after England, on what went wrong. We felt there was not a lot we did wrong but whatever was not right went extreme. We played good cricket but the mistakes were also very extreme.
“How to control the game is something we need to work on. We have to find a solution in tough situations rather than feeling that it would appear from somewhere.”
India’s major problem has been the batsmen’s failure to fire together, and over-dependence on Kohli.
“We are feeling good we have a great (pace) bowling attack now but the batsmen need to step up … everyone is really keen to correct those things and put in a complete performance.
“So, we put in a complete performance for a game which we want to last a series … Our focus will be on how the batsmen bat well together on this tour because the bowlers are in a great space and they know after a long time we feel we can pick up 20 wickets every game.
He said: “From the last time we went there, fitness levels of the bowlers are surely up, which is the most important factor in Australia. The pitches can get boring at times, the Kookaburra doesn’t do much. So, it is about maintaining the pace with which you start your day.”
Kohli attributed South Africa’s Test success in Australia to this factor. “They had Morne Morkel, Jacques Kallis, Dale Steyn, and now Kagiso Rabada. They have relentlessly bowled in the right areas to get those wickets. Our guys are surely capable to do a similar kind of job but I don’t want to focus on (only on) that. The batsmen need to step up as well.”
India-australia contests have often been marred by on-field clashes. Australia, however, are a subdued lot in the wake of the ball-tampering scandal. The team has been directed by Cricket Australia to stop sledging and live up to what is described as ‘Elite Honesty’.
Kohli, never one to hold back when provoked, promised not to cross the line. “When it comes to getting engaged in an argument on the field, I have been completely okay playing without the altercation. We were always the ones giving it back, never the ones starting anything.”