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‘Can’t think about what could have happened’ – Virat Kohli

by Wisden Staff 3 minute read

After England beat India by an innings and 159 runs in the second of five Tests at Lord’s, Virat Kohli, the India captain, admitted that his side had been “really outplayed”.

“We have to accept the mistakes, learn from them, put them aside, make sure we’re not thinking about the same mistakes again, rather get confident and not repeat those again,” Kohli said after the match ended on Sunday, August 13.

“We’re thinking of nothing else but to go 2-1 in the series, and from thereon build on that strongly. This is the first time in the last five Tests we’ve been really outplayed … we’ve competed in every game.”

England won the second Test by an innings and 159 runs at Lord's

England won the second Test by an innings and 159 runs at Lord’s

India were bowled out for 107 and 130. Kohli, who himself was dismissed for 23 and 17, agreed that India’s batting performance was well below par in the game.

“When you’re out there in a situation that is tough, you have to find ways to counter the situation, which I think we’ve failed to do as batsmen, myself included, in this game. We haven’t been able to have partnerships in this game, which is the basic rule of batting,” he said.

“Only 50 (partnership in the second innings) with Hardik (Pandya) and Ash (Ravichandran Ashwin), nothing of any substance before or after that. That’s what we need to work on, to build partnerships and put the team in a strong position.”

"We do have the bowling attack to pick up 20 wickets"

“We do have the bowling attack to pick up 20 wickets”

“People are saying that we batted in overcast conditions … if we dwell on those things, we’ll be unable to plan,” Kohli added. “We can’t think about what could have happened in the game because we have to correct our mistakes. We have no option other than that.”

Along with an unimpressive batting performance, Kohli also pointed out that their bowling too wasn’t up to the mark.

“For a sportsman, it’s important that if we make mistakes we ensure they’re corrected, and as a team we’ll look to focus on that,” he said. “The fact is we didn’t play good cricket in this match. Batting wasn’t good. As for bowling, we began well, but were unable to hit areas consistently. We could have done a lot better with both bat and ball.

“We know that we do have the bowling attack to pick up 20 wickets and as batsmen we should think of that as an opportunity to score runs and make the team win games. What is sad is that we haven’t had those two skills come together.”

"This is the first time in the last five Tests we've been really outplayed"

“This is the first time in the last five Tests we’ve been really outplayed”

Apart from the mistakes committed, Kohli’s fitness would definitely be of a major concern for India ahead of the Trent Bridge Test starting August 18. The India captain struggled at Lord’s with a back issue but said that he’d be fit enough to play the third Test.

“As of yesterday and today, it wasn’t great. Back is one thing that can be really tricky. It happened during the last leg of the South Africa tour when I missed a T20 game,” he said. “The good thing is I have five days before the next Test.

“We’re confident, with rehab and strengthening, I should be ready for the next game although not with the same intensity on the field, but I should be able to hold a position in the field and be 100 per cent with the bat. I think five days is good enough to be better for the next game.”

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