No excuses from Kohli as India plot revenge mission
VIRAT Kohli refused to blame the pitch as India were thrashed by Australia, not passing 107 on either innings.
Steve O’Keefe was the star for Australia, taking 12 wickets in the match at a cost of just 70 runs after Steve Smith had hit a second innings century for the tourists.
But having looked flummoxed against spin, India captain Kohli bemoaned his side’s batting rather than the minefield of the pitch, which was rated ‘poor’ by match referee Chris Broad.
Kohli said: “I don’t think it was any different from the turners that we played on in the past.We just didn’t play good cricket.You can ask me any sort of question or any perception about the loss.
“We know exactly what happened, the mistakes that we made. External perceptions don’t matter to us, they have never mattered to us.
“We played good cricket, that’s why we won.We played bad cricket, and that’s why we lost. That’s how simply we look at this defeat.We just want to take the learnings forward, improve and come back stronger in the next game.
“I can assure you that we are going to come back with more intent for sure, and put Australia under pressure straight from ball one.”
The second Test starts tomorrow with the pitch in Bangalore wearing a light coating of grass, an even coating barring a bald patch at one end but may not still be like that come Saturday morning.
But having won convincingly in the first Test, Australia batsman David Warner praised his side’s preparation, having spent some time in Dubai before travelling to India.
Warner said:“The guys that went to Dubai early were all talking about how good it was to prepare over there and get their mind set and get the miles in the legs to come here.
“We’re truly grateful for that opportunity. Sometimes when you come to these countries, in these conditions you don’t have as much preparation because when you’re in this heat you fatigue quite fast. But we prepared well.”