No excuse and no panic as Kohli sees the big picture in Australia ODI series defeat

INDIA captain Virat Kohli is too busy counting the gains for his team’s World Cup campaign to mourn the setback in their dress rehearsal against Australia.

The importance of the five-match series against the world champions – India’s last before this year’s World Cup – was not lost on Kohli who wanted to assess the team’s preparedness for the showpiece event in England and Wales.

Australia spectacularly overturned a 0-2 deficit to emerge 3-2 winners, but Kohli was more interested in the big picture for his team.

“None of the guys in the changeroom are panicking, the support staff is not feeling down after this defeat,” the 30-year-old said after their defeat in the Delhi decider.

“Because we know the things that we were wanting to do in these last three games, purely because now it’s only the World Cup after this...”

One of them was to find a reliable batsman at No 4 after several candidates fluffed their audition.

Ambati Rayudu scored 13, 18 and two at that position in the first three matches, while Rishabh Pant managed 16 in the fifth.

Kohli himself flirted with the position in Mohali where he managed seven – his lowest of the series – and will return to his usual No 3 where he has been most effective.

“The idea was to give the guys on the bench and the fringe guys a bit of game time as well and just put them in those positions and see how they react,” he said. | Reuters