Probably our worst batting display, laments Virat Kohli

It is not an everyday story to see the number one ranked team get beaten and bruised in their own backyard. This was exactly the case when India hosted Australia for the first Test at Pune. The Virat Kohli-led side succumbed to a heavy 333 run defeat. It was definitely their batting department that let them down in the game. India failed to cross the 110-run mark in both the innings. On the contrary, the Australian skipper Steve Smith alone scored close to 110 in the second innings on a rank turner.

Speaking to the media in the post-match press conference, Virat Kohli accepted the defeat gracefully and credited the Aussies for outplaying India. A lot of talk surrounded the Pune wicket. Many speculated that the Indians had the track tailored for their interests. However, skipper Kohli denied the speculation when he was asked if he had a word with the pitch curator. He answered, “I don’t know. I didn’t speak to anyone”.

The dynamic batsman failed to score with the bat in both innings and his weaknesses, that were nowhere to be found in the last 12 months, resurfaced all of a sudden. Kohli rued the poor batting performance and went on to call it the worst ever batting performance of his side in the recent past.

“We got outplayed in this game. No two ways about it. Australia were much better. We’ve got to take it on the chin. We never took them for granted,” quoted the Indian captain.

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“That’s probably our worst batting display in the last two years. It was a case of not applying ourselves. Have to sit down and think what we did wrong. Batting was more disappointing than the bowling. We know that Pune is generally low and slow. They exploited it better than us and bowled at a good pace,” he added further.

Kohli also noted that he has no excuses to give on the defeat. He called it as a learning game for the team. He thanked the crowds for supporting them throughout. He conceded Australia to be the well-deserved winners of the contest.

“There was a lot of pressure created on us. They deserved to win this game. If you don’t hold onto the chances, it’s tough to get back in the game. As I said, I have no excuses. I take the loss on the chin. Big learning Test for me too,” said Virat Kohli.

“I am sure we are going to bounce back strongly. It has been a good run for us (19-match unbeaten streak before this game). Good to see the crowd still supporting us,” Kohli concluded.

On the other hand, the Australian skipper Steve Smith was all pleased with the win. He argued that the hosts dug their own grave by getting a turner for the match. He appreciated the work done by his spinners in the match.

“It was up to them to prepare a wicket and they prepared a wicket that actually played into our hands. I think it was certainly a wicket that was likely to suit the Indian players. I think it evened up the contest a lot more. We saw the way our spinners bowled on that. They were able to generate some good spin and good natural variation out of the wicket,” Steve Smith reckoned.