Kohli says his team showed how not to bat
pune — Captain Virat Kohli loathed the way Indian batsmen negotiated a rank turner, saying they showed how not to bat on such tracks and termed the massive defeat against Australia as their “worst” batting performance in recent times.
Kohli suffered his first Test defeat as captain at home with India plumetting to a humiliating 333run loss. “The batting let us down in both the innings. Our application was not good. There were no partnerships worth mentioning, it’s an area which fills us with pride. The batsmen need to pull their socks up. The batting was not up to standards, it showed how we shouldn’t bat, that’s all I will say,” Kohli lamented.
The captain said it was “criminal” to concede a 155-run first innings lead as it made it too difficult to pull things back. “It rarely happens that 4-5 people make judgment errors in both the innings and especially with the way we have batted over the last few months, I would say this was our worst batting performance. We need to accept that we batted badly and need to improve and back stronger in Bangalore. There’s lot of cricket left in the series.”
Talking about his own dismissal — he was bowled by spinner Steeve O’ Keefe whie leaving a ball — Kohli said he made a “judgment error”. “I left the ball too early. I should have waited for a little more. It was my fault,” he said. Kohli said the team will take the defeat in its stride and move ahead like it did after the loss at Galle against Sri Lanka in late 2015 from where the golden run commenced.
“It’s just another international game, no big deal. Just as you should be calm and composed and not get over-excited when we win, the same way we should stay the same way when we lose. We take it on the chin. The last time we had a performance like this we had an outstanding run from Galle. I would say that we needed something like this for a reality check and understand what we need to work on and not take anything for granted.” — PTI
I left the ball too early. I should have waited for a little more. It was my fault Kohli, indian skipper