India captain Virat Kohli had no issue in admitting that New Zealand were far better in the opening Test but also said that they “can’t help it” if people make it something big out of one loss. Hosts New Zealand thrashed India by 10 wickets at the Basin Reverse on Monday and took a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series. However, this was India’s first defeat in the World Test Championship as they have won convincingly in all the previous matches.
“We know we haven’t played well, but if people want to make a big deal out of it, make a mountain out of it, we can’t help it as we don’t think like that,” Kohli said at the post-match media interaction.
“Some people might want it to be the end of the world but it’s not. For us, it’s a game of cricket we lost and we move on and keep our heads high.”
“We understand that we need to play well to win, also at home. There’s no cakewalk at international level as teams will come and beat you. You accept it and that defines our character as a side,” he added.
However, one defeat can define any team’s credibility. Even one defeat can make any of the team “bad overnight” as well.
“That’s why we have been able to play this kind of cricket. If we would have paid attention to the outside chatter, we would again be at No. 7 or 8 in the rankings. We don’t really bother about what people are saying on the outside,” the skipper shared.
“If we have lost then we have no shame in accepting that. It means we didn’t play this game well. It doesn’t mean that we have become a bad team overnight. People might want to change our thoughts, but it doesn’t work like that.”
However, Virat Kohli said that the team has self-belief and they are confident that they would come back stronger in the second Test which will be played in Christchurch in four days’ time.
“We will work hard, and after four days play just like we have played all these years. Just because we have lost one match in between all wins, doesn’t mean that the belief is gone. The dressing room thinks differently and the team atmosphere is different,” said Kohli.
However, Kohli shared that there is a very thin line between being ultra-defensive and over-attacking, something that India failed to get it right in the first Test match.
“New Zealand got into the mind of the batsmen and make the batsmen do something that they don’t want to. Think that’s a very thin line and a very delicate balance of when to attack and when to put bowlers under pressure which we failed to do in this match and there is no harm in accepting that,” expressed the captain.
According to him, Indian batsmen failed to put any pressure on the New Zealand bowlers, which cost them the game and that was the main reason for Kiwis’win in the Test.
“That has got to do with partly good bowling from New Zealand and partly us not pressing that momentum on to them when required. It was perfect for them because they bowled well and we allowed them to bowl well for longer periods rather than doing something about it in a partnership,” Virat Kohli concluded.
