Kohli takes a dig at ICC and media on 'pitch' debate

Speaking on the eve of the fourth and final Test match of the Freedom series between India and South Africa at Feroz Shah Kotla in New Delhi, Indian captain Kohli questioned the lack of coverage and criticism surrounding other Test matches which finish in less than three days.

“I don’t think anyone has written any articles about Adelaide Test which finished in two and half days,” Kohli said when asked about the Nagpur pitch.

When reporters asked him about the ICC Match Referee rating the Nagpur pitch as ‘poor’, Kohli shot back by saying, "Well, there have been three scores of under 50 runs (in an innings) in South Africa but I haven't seen any sort of articles on that. Teams have been bundled out under 100 for about six times in South Africa. Never saw any articles written on that. See articles are there to be written. It's a mindset or an opinion of someone. I don't relate to it, I don't understand it and I don't entertain it. It doesn't bother me or the team."

Kohli’s aggressive stance on the pitch issue, once again came to the fore, when reporters reminded him that it was the ICC’s official report.

"Yes, I am talking about anyone (including ICC). I am not only talking about people writing articles in general. It's an assessment that happens in every condition and at every ground. Unfortunately, the situation in our country is highlighted a bit too much and that's a fact. Because only thing we talk about is the pitch and when we were in South Africa, the only thing we talked about is how badly we played," Kohli added.

“We are not satisfied with 2-0. We want to be ruthless in terms of mindset. If we have any chance to go three-nil, we try to achieve that by giving our 100 percent," said Kohli, who is captaining for the first time in his home ground.

India lead the four-match Test series with an unassailable 2-0 lead after winning the third Test at Nagpur by 124 runs.