New Zealand vs India 2020: Virat Kohli Pins Blame On Batsmen After Series Loss
Published - 02 Mar 2020, 10:28 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 06:49 AM
India skipper Virat Kohli has rued the poor performance from the batsmen after the heavy seven-wicket loss in the second Test against New Zealand. After losing the series-opener by ten wickets, India showed very little improvement in the just-concluded second game and ended up suffering their first series defeat in the ongoing ICC Test Championship.
India’s bowlers came up with a fine show in the first innings to give the team a slender seven run lead. The Virat Kohli-led side had managed to score only 242 in the first innings but the bowlers bowled out the hosts for 235 to give the tourists slight advantage.
However, India’s batsmen failed miserably in the second innings as the team was all out for just 124 to set the home side a target of 132. In reply, New Zealand rode on fifties from their openers Tom Latham and Tom Blundell to chase down the total with ease.
Congratulations to New Zealand on winning the Test series. #NZvIND
Details? https://t.co/VTLQt4iEFz pic.twitter.com/gNq2DGHxWm
— BCCI (@BCCI) March 2, 2020
Speaking at the end of the game, Virat Kohli expressed his disappointment over the way the team performed. The right-handed batsman rued the lack of contribution from the batsmen, saying that it was disappointing to see the batsmen not backing up the bowlers.
I think it was a matter of not having enough intent in the first game. We played well in the first innings here with the bat. It was a combination of us not having the right kind of execution and New Zealand playing well. Batsmen didn’t do enough for the bowlers to attack. It’s disappointing as a side when the batsmen don’t back up the effort of the bowlers,” said Virat Kohli who himself had a series to forget.
The India star further said that he and his teammates would not blame the toss for the losses and would instead use the defeats as a learning curve.
“We need to go back, understand what went wrong and move forward. We are not a side that thinks about the result of the toss. We are not going to take excuses from this tour, just the learning. In the ODIs it was good to see the youngsters stepping up with Rohit not being available and me not getting runs. We need to accept we were not good enough, take it on the chin and move on,” said Virat Kohli.
