IND vs NZ | Lack of pace costs us more than being intimidated by pace, admits Virat Kohli

It was India’s first loss in the ICC Test Championship at the hands of the strong New Zealand side who outplayed India in all aspects. Right from the start, the home side dominated proceedings, taking advantage of the home conditions with accurate bowling and a well-placed fielding setup. Following the loss, Indian skipper Virat Kohli admitted that the lack of pace in the pitch is what helped the home side to a win over the visitors. He added that the approach from New Zealand throughout the game demanded a better cricket from the visitors. However, he was quick in knocking the question down regarding the problems caused by the variety in the Kiwi pace attack. 

“I think we have faced attacks with variety, in South Africa, we faced Morne Morkel, Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander. It was a strange pitch, it was not seaming around or swinging. It was slow on the drier side, lack of pace costs us more than being intimidated by pace. It played perfectly to their plan, they feed of bowling at one spot with an accurate field setup. It was not easy to get the shots away, they made it tough for us,” said Kohli in the post-match press conference. 

The 31-year-old from Delhi revealed that lack of intensity from the Indian batsmen help the Kiwi bowlers to have a growing influence on the game. He ensured that the top-order batsmen would take up the responsibility to bat positively in the middle, not allowing their bowlers to get an edge over the proceedings. 

“I don’t think there is anything technical. Taking responsibility as an individual to take up the responsibility to bat in the middle without taking many orders. If we go in doubts about whether to take shots or not rather than going for our shots and then analysing the execution later. Especially in away conditions, we get off to a start, we leaving well, we drop and run well. We will be more positive in the second Test in the first innings, putting their bowler under pressure changing their plans,” he added. 

The home side dominated the proceedings in the first Test, with some excellent bowling in the first innings, with Tim Southee and Trent Boult picking up nine wickets between them in a favouring condition. However, in the second innings, Kohli believes that the wickets were a result of the tight-bowling combined with the aggressive field setup by his counterpart Kane Williamson. At one point, there were at least four fielders on the off-side for Cheteshwar Pujara and Mayank Agarwal. 

“We also need to understand that New Zealand bowled really better. In the first innings, there was some assistance but in the second, they put fielders accordingly, got to the mind of the batsmen and forced us to do certain things that we didn’t want to. There is a thin line and a very delicate balance between when to attack and when to put the batsman in pressure. We have failed to do that.”