When We Lost In New Zealand Inside Three Days There Were No Discussions Around The Pitch: Virat Kohli

Indian captain Virat Kohli has said that the hue and cry around the pitch in the past two Tests have been going around for far too long now and that time has come for everyone to accept that spin is an important factor while playing Test cricket in the sub-continent.

The discussion regarding the pitches dished out by India in the last two Tests have continued for far too long as compared to actual cricket in the last two games with several former cricketers like Michael Vaughan, David Lloyd, Monty Panesar, Mark Waugh accusing India of producing what they believe are sub-standard pitches which are a poor advertisement for Test cricket.

Drawing a reference to last year’s New Zealand tour where India was blanked 0-2 on green mambas within three days in both games, Virat Kohli said that no one talked about the conditions back then.

Kohli said that the discussion at the time was only around India’s lackluster batting and not on the conditions which is contrary to what is happening now.

“Let me ask you a question – do we play matches so that they last 5 days or do we play to win? asked Virat Kohli in the virtual press-conference.

“We lost in New Zealand inside 3 days. No one said anything about the pitch back then. Our strength is we focus on ourselves and not the pitch. We need to be honest with ourselves about this narrative (of spinning tracks),” Kohli added.

Kohli further added that the reason behind India’s success in Test cricket has been the fact that they never crib about the conditions on offer and their sole focus has always been on how they can improve themselves when faced with challenging wickets.

“I believe there is too much noise about spinning tracks. Our media should present the view that spinning tracks are fine in the subcontinent. The reason behind our success as a team is that we haven’t cribbed about any surface we have played on. We have always tried to improve,” the India captain added.

The Indian captain asserted that more than the wicket, it was the lack of skills displayed by the batsmen that paved way for an early finish in the last Test.

“No clue why the focus is so much on the ball or the pitch. Neither sides batsmen were good enough to tackle the pitch in 3rd Test. I maintain it was a case of the skill on display rather than the pitch being a bad one.” Virat Kohli signed off.

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