Kohli to discuss one spot before 2019 World Cup: Unperturbed by the series loss, the Indian captain spoke of the World Cup combination.
During the fifth ODI of the Australia’s tour of India at Delhi, Australia defeated India by 35 runs to register a 3-2 series victory. Coming on the back of being 0-2 down in the series, winning the series was no less than an exceptional effort from the visitors.
Advertisement
Chasing a 273-run target, India went through a batting collapse in the middle overs which saw them lacking behind in the chase from the halfway mark. Having lost vice-captain Rohit Sharma (56) and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja (0) in the same over, India found themselves lacking behind in the chase.
Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, India captain Virat Kohli believed the target was gettable. “We certainly thought it was gettable, we thought they got away from us at the end a little bit. I think 15-20 [runs] more than what we expected.
“But that’s the way the game goes and one or two overs can make a whole lot of difference,” Kohli was quoted as saying.
“Australia deserved to win”
The 30-year old cricketer was wax lyrical about the Australian team. Kohli talked about how the visitors played with more passion, hunger and heart and deserved to win especially with their game in the last three ODIs.
“If you look at the overall scene, I think Australia deserved to win. They played with more passion, they played with more hunger and they played with more heart than us in the last three games. They were brave in the pressure situations compared to our side.
“The first two games we were on the mark but the last three games, the way they raised their intensity and the way they grabbed the pressure moments, they are deserving winners of the series,” Kohli said.
“We are more or less sorted”
In a series where the Indian team tried several combinations in a bid to find the most suitable squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, they still haven’t really found the answers to their questions.
However, Kohli spoke of the otherwise. The skipper talked about a ‘sorted’ team and expected the players to deliver during the showpiece event.
“We are more or less sorted with what we want to do. Now it is just about giving guys their roles and expecting them to stand up and deliver during the World Cup,” Kohli was quoted as saying.
“Just one spot to discuss”
The highlight of the conversation came when Kohli said that the team management and the selectors have only one spot to discuss. Other than that, Kohli believed the team is pretty much balanced.
“So we are not in a confused state anymore. Just probably one spot in the team that we have to discuss, and the rest of the team is pretty much sorted for us and we have been feeling pretty much balanced,” Kohli added.
Laying emphasis on the selections during this series, Kohli made public the ploy that the fringe players had to be tried in the last three matches. Having said that, he mentioned that the same isn’t a excuse for losing the series.
“The last three games, 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. And you couldn’t have tried that anywhere else apart from those three games.
“That is not an excuse at all because we expect to raise our standard of cricket. The changes [in the playing XI] is not an excuse. It will never be an excuse. But we used these three games to give game time to guys who we think are good enough to perform at this level,” Kohli concluded.
How Twitter reacted:
For more cricket-related news, click here.
