A disappointed Virat Kohli on Monday admitted that his side was “completely outplayed” by New Zealand in the two Test series and they can’t live in denial about “not being brave enough” to counter adverse conditions.
The Indian batting was in complete shambles in the series and the skipper said with a packed schedule, the team management will have to find solutions despite time constraints. The star-studded team was outplayed inside three days in the second Test against New Zealand, with the home team making a mockery of the visitors’ world No.1 status to complete a memorable series sweep.
New Zealand prevailed by seven wickets, chasing down a modest target of 132 in just 36 overs, after India’s second innings folded for 124 in less than an hour on the third day.
India, perched at the top of the World Test Championships right now, were humiliated 0-2 in the series and was found wanting yet again when up against high-quality seamers overseas.
“Obviously quite disappointed with how we played in this series. I feel like we were completely outplayed in this series,” the Indian captain was honest and forthright in his assessment following the seven-wicket loss in the second Test.
“We obviously didn’t play the kind of cricket we do as a team. The thing to take away from here is to not shy away from things that have gone wrong and instead address them straight up, and not be in denial,” he said.
Asked to point out what exactly went wrong, Kohli felt the outlook towards a series in adverse conditions was “not ideal”. “I think the outlook as far as I am concerned, and as far as I saw things happening, was not ideal for us in this series. We were not positive enough. We were not brave enough in moments, which we have done in the past.”
However, he didn’t like New Zealand being called India’s “bogey team”, having lost to the Black Caps in the 2019 World Cup semi-final and two series in white and red ball formats.
“I am sure no one was saying that in first half of the tour,” he said referring to his team’s 5-0 win in the T20 series. “You can’t just make a team a ‘bogey team’ because of one Test series defeat and a semi-final loss. They played better cricket on that day, and in this Test series, and there is no shame in accepting that.”
Outstanding: Williamson
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson says their victory in the second Test well inside three days is not a fair reflection of how competitive the match was and if India had scored 50 more runs, the chase would have been much more challenging.
“It’s an outstanding performance. But I don’t think the result reflected how competitive the match was. Perhaps another 50 more runs from the India’s perspective would have made it quite a balanced-looking match,” Williamson said at the post-match press conference.
Williamson had no qualms in admitting that tracks were tilted in favour of bowlers.
