Kohli on India’s 4th Test loss: Indian captain was vocal about India not getting the start they would have liked to make while chasing 245 runs.
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After a 60-run loss in the fourth Test of the ongoing Pataudi Trophy against England at Southampton, Indian captain Virat Kohli spoke about the reasons which led to the Indian downfall.
On being asked about the chances which he thought India had regarding chasing the total, he said that the match could have gone either team’s way at the beginning of the fourth innings. “I thought England played really well to give us that target, seeing how the pitch was and the ball was spinning, it was challenging for us.
“We thought we were in with a chance last night but we didn’t get the start we wanted, they were relentless with the ball and applied pressure throughout. Credit to them, they bowled well and we couldn’t get enough”, he said during the post-match presentation.
Kohli came in to bat at 17-2 in the eight over and saw Shikhar Dhawan (17) talking the long walk back to the pavilion in the following over. In a critical situation with Ajinkya Rahane, Kohli talked about the mindset at that point in time. “Mindset was one ball at a time, me and Jinks wanted to put on a partnership. Usually you’re in the chase with a partnership but they made early inroads and we knew a couple of wickets would put pressure on us. We enjoyed it out there, but they pulled it back, that’s the beauty of Test cricket”, he added.
“There’s a lot of ‘what ifs’, calls that could have gone our way. We could have got maybe a larger lead, Pujara was outstanding to get us ahead. There were many factors, but not many negatives, England played better than us and deserved the win. We need to take the positives into the next Test match”, he further added.
Kohli also threw accolades at England’s lower order for they showed great determination in adding those vital extra runs in the match. “I think it’s great to have guys who strike the ball well in those positions, you can get a partnership together and hurt the opposition. They are fearless and have skills, they were braver than us in tough positions. Runs form the lower order were significant, I congratulate Sam Curran, he’s been a fine cricketer”, he was quoted.
Despite losing the series 3-1 (with one match to go), Kohli remained positive about the way his team has played and also about the last Test at The Oval. “Apart from Lord’s I don’t think we have been outplayed, it’s been enjoyable, teams going at each other with good quality. We’ll go to the Oval and come out with the same intensity”, he said.
