India skipper Virat Kohli accepted the batsmen didn’t step up to the plate after the bowlers gave them a bright chance to win the first Test that they eventually lost by 72 runs at Newlands on Monday.
(SA v IND 1st Test HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD)
“Losing wickets in bunches never helps winning Tests or consolidating your position. Also, we rectified the errors we made in the first innings by letting them off after having them at 12/3. We plugged that gap pretty nicely in the morning today,” Kohli told the post-match press conference.
“Getting them out for 130, 208 felt chaseable, felt very realistic; but again, we needed someone to go out there and get 75 or 80, and not 20-25-30 runs. We wanted one big partnership to get the job done, which we failed to do and again we lost four wickets in four overs. If you do that, it is very tough for you to come back and win Test matches.”
The next two Tests, in Centurion and Johannesburg, may have pitches with more bounce and movement, but Kohli is backing his team to have another crack at South Africa, now that they are more aware of their own batting frailties.
“Look, they had collapses too. Even in the first innings, if you take AB’s innings out, and Faf to an extent, the batting hasn’t clicked for them either. We felt we were in the game as well throughout.
“I think if we get a lively wicket again, we will really exploit those conditions. If we apply ourselves, we will give ourselves a chance to have a crack at the result, which was there in this game also. Not having got the job done hurts, and it should hurt because that’s the only way you can rectify the mistakes and come out with more motivation in the next match,” he said.
India went into this Test after opting out of their only practice game, but Kohli said that wasn’t a factor in their loss. “Even they got out for 130 in the second innings and they play here all the time. It was a wicket where things were happening every day. Look, we let ourselves down with the bat, that’s for sure,” he said.
“Having been put under pressure twice, we came back really nicely into the game and gave ourselves a fair chance of winning this Test even after not having played our best cricket. So, we can take a lot of positives out of this,” said Kohli.
India went with Rohit Sharma ahead of vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane, raising a lot of debate over whether this was the best XI. However, Kohli had no doubt about that. “Well, we decided to go on current form. Rohit has scored runs in the last three Tests he has played, and he was batting well, even in the series against Sri Lanka. He did that similar thing in the past, and Shikhar as well.
“Look, these things can always be looked at in hindsight – thinking what if or what if not. But we decided to go with this combination and current form was definitely the criterion.”