“It is very important for batsmen to stand up,” says Kohli ahead of Boxing Day Test

Kohli ahead of Boxing Day Test: The Indian Test captain has urged his batsmen to stand up ahead of the all-important Boxing Day Test.

With the four-match series level at 1-1, India captain Virat Kohli has asked his batsmen to stand up a day ahead of the third Test of the series. The Indian batsmen have once again failed to acclimatize to overseas conditions.

With the inclusion of a fresh opening pair in debutant Mayank Agarwal and middle-order batsman Hanuma Vihari in their playing XI for the Boxing Day Test, India will be hopeful of getting a solid start at the top of the order, something which can be then consolidated upon by their middle-order.

“It is very important for batsmen to stand up, because as everyone can see, our bowling has been performing really well. Otherwise, the bowlers won’t be able to do anything with the totals that we have been compiling,” Kohli was quoted as saying to the media on the eve of the third Test.

Rather than laying emphasis on individual contributions, Kohli said that he wants the batsmen to step up ‘collectively’. “If we are batting second, we will try to take the lead or get as close to the opposition total as possible. If you equal a big score, then it becomes a second-innings’ match and if you take a good first-innings lead, then you can capitalize on that.

“The batsmen must step up collectively. I won’t say individually whether someone needs to do that or not, but as a batting unit, we have to definitely put up a better performance,” Kohli said about his batsmen.

Not bothering about the past, the 30-year old cricketer opined that the team should look ahead for it is the next Test match which will decide things for them. “As a team, I don’t think whether you are 2-0 up or 2-0 down or 1-1, what’s happened in the past has no significance at all to what’s going to happen in the next two Tests or what’s going to happen in the next Test which is quite immediate.

“The key is to stay in the moment, stay in the present, understand and remember why you won the first Test, which was because of us being in the present moment,” Kohli added.

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