Batsmen let us down: Virat Kohli

India lost the first Test at Cape Town by 72 runs and hoped for a better turn of events when the 2nd Test started on 13 January at the Centurion.

Kohli is a passionate personalty and thus, it would have been surprising if there weren’t any fireworks in the post-match press conference.

When the reporter asked the player Virat Kohli regarding the fielding issue, Kohli said it is the best possible playing XI and his team’s overseas record, Kohli was tough in his best form. We don’t decide the 11 according to results. “You are telling me that you could have played the best XI”.

“I think as a professional player‚ you do go through ups and downs and sometimes bowlers do find your weaknesses”. But you make a decision and you back it. We tried but we weren’t good enough. Lungi Ngidi (six for 39) did the mopping up to cap a sensational debut.”This time round, we haven’t batted well as a unit”, said Kohli, who bristled with anger at a couple of questions that targeted India’s chop-and-change selection policy.”We bowled well”. “It is not my job to pick the team”. Because you work so hard, prepare for a match, get into good situations, shift the game towards you, and then the momentum shifts because of these mistakes.

“We thought the wicket was really flat to play”.

“Virat’s knock in the first innings was very, very good”.

“We have not come here to play the way we have (played)”.

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.

As Kohli announced the team for the second Test at the toss, he received a lot of flak on social media for dropping in-form Bhuvneshwar Kumar and not picking Ajinkya Rahane ahead of KL Rahul.

There were too many soft dismissals and it was a case of batsmen not applying themselves on a wicket which needed patience to score runs. They are a lot more disciplined, as well.

“Partnerships of 60s and 70s do not help you win Test matches”.

Their attritional approach was in response to a burst of three wickets in the first session of the day from India’s Mohamed Shami (4-49) that threatened to leave the game wide open.

Du Plessis: “Our win rate away from home is the best in the world so we have played some really good cricket”.

Virat Kohli is easily the most loved cricketer in the cricket-obsessed country that is India.

“I was very concerned when I got here leading up to the Test match‚” he said. Shami looked at his very best in that phase and seemed to be in excellent rhythm. With Ashwin’s fall at 3, India had lost its seven. We as a team don’t think of what the opinion going around is, and I’ve clarified that before also.

It didn’t look like a Centurion wicket that I know.