Defending champions India will take on neighbors Bangladesh in the semi finals of the Champions Trophy. After beating Pakistan in their opening match, India surprisingly went down to Sri Lanka in their next match. But thankfully for Indian fans, their team bounced back to convincingly thump South Africa to book their place in the last four. Reports have now emerged that Virat Kohli ripped through the dressing room after India’s loss to Sri Lanka.
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After the game, Kohli let out his frustrations and questioned every member of the squad in the dressing room. It was time for some serious introspection, as their below par efforts in the field had almost ruined India’s semi final hopes. This is what Kohli said to the press after India secured qualification.
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“You have to be honest. You have to sometimes say things that hurt. That’s what I believe in. You have to lay it out in front of them that this is what we did wrong, including me, and we need to take it on the chin and accept it and prove it. That’s why we are chosen among millions of people to play at this level.”
“You have to be good enough to do that for the country and you have to be good enough to bounce back, as well. You can’t do the same mistakes over and over again. It’s not about asking two, three players to do it. We are asking everyone to do it and everyone is responding really well. Today was a team performance.”
“As I said, you have to point out things that didn’t go well, but at the same time, you don’t want to be nagging them too much because they are professional cricketers and I have played with a lot of these guys. You have to understand how to speak to them and how to communicate and discuss things with them.”
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“They are motivated enough to play at this level and perform. It’s just that those little things are something that needs a push every now and then and we embrace it as a team now. For that, we train harder and for that we practice harder, and those things pay off in crunch situations.”
“As a captain, I would not say that I was totally calm or I had no issues at all. I mean, obviously you think of wanting to get the team across the line and I am glad the boys turned up the way they did today (against South Africa).” Kohli said.
