Virat Kohli : I'm asking everyone to be hard on themselves after recent loss
Indian skipper Virat Kohli has urged his squad to step up their game and prove doubters wrong after series defeat at the hands of the Proteas. Kohli, in no uncertain words, blamed the batsmen for the loss stating that the "bowlers had done the job" but the batsmen had "let the team down again’.
The Indian squad left the country filled with hope and confidence after their record-equalling nine consecutive series wins. However, after two disappointing losses at the hand of the Proteas the dream of owning the record has been shattered. Despite a strong show put up by the bowling department, the performance of the batting line-up in both the Test matches is ultimately what led to the downfall of the team.
Kohli has called for a sense of calm amidst all the chaos as the team will now begin prep for the third and the final Test versus the South Africans.
“At the end of the day one team has to lose. As a team you always try to win. You can accept defeat but not the way we played, the way we let the advantage slip out of our hand, that is not acceptable from a team's point of view.
“So many soft dismissals in one match hurt a lot. Because you work so hard, you prepare for a match, you get into good situations, shift the game towards you, and then the momentum shifts because of these mistakes.” Kohli said at the post-match conference.
Kohli, battled against all odds to score a brilliant 153 in the first innings of the second Test, to put up a fight against their opponents, but with no support from the rest of the side, the outcome of the match was inevitable.
“I want to leave everything on the field, for my country, for my team. That’s the way I play. 150 (153) means nothing right now that we have lost the series. If we had won, even a 50 or a 30 would have mattered more to me. Having not won the game, personal milestones don’t matter to me. As a team, you want to win collectively.
“We tried but we weren’t good enough. South Africa were better than us, especially in the fielding department, and that’s why they are the winners. And they deserve to be.” said Kohli.
India are gearing up for the final showdown in their first foreign tour of the year with the third Test Match to be played at the Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg.