IND v AUS 2020: 'No need to make a mountain of a molehill'- Virat Kohli believes Adelaide collapse not alarming
Indian skipper Virat Kohli accepted that the Indian batsmen failed to have the right mindset in their second innings collapse at Adelaide. However, he doesn't think it is a huge wake-up call for the Men in Blue.
The 32-year-old believes collapses are a part and parcel of the game, and the batsmen need to learn from it and move on. He stressed there is a lot of pressure on the batsmen at this level, and thus there is no need to be too harsh on them. He firmly stated his team is not a vulnerable side and such collapses won't happen frequently.
"I don't think it's alarming and we can very well sit here and make a mountain out of a molehill, it's basically looking at things in the right perspective. You have just spoken about five or six batting collapses in 8 to 9 years if I am not wrong. There will definitely be collapses again and again and we have to accept our mistakes and what we need to work on," Virat Kohli said in the post-match video conference.
"This is not club level cricket and obviously there is a lot of pressure involved at different stages and as batsmen, we take pride in doing our job for the team. We are not vulnerable to getting out cheaply or vulnerable to a collapse," Virat Kohli further added.
I don't think we've had a worse batting performance than this: Virat Kohli
Team India had a lead of 53 runs going into the second innings at Adelaide. A strong batting effort from their side could have proved fatal for the Aussies. However, it all came crashing down for the Men in Blue, as they got bundled out for just 36 runs. Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins were just too good for the Indian batsmen.
Virat Kohli regarded this as probably their worst batting performance ever. Lack of intent from the batsman was one of the main reasons for the collapse, according to him. However, he also has faith that the Indian batsmen can bounce back and learn from their mistakes.
"I don't think we have ever had a worse batting performance than this. So we can only go upwards from here and you will see guys stepping up and realising their true characters. It's a strange one to be honest in my opinion. The ball didn't do much but we didn't have too much intent of going out there and taking the game forward. Everything happened so quickly that no one could make any sense of it, " Virat Kohli asserted.
Virat Kohli will now be heading back to India as he is awaiting the birth of his first child. The Indian team will need to gather some courage and get back up on their feet after the horror show at Adelaide.
They will need to believe in themselves and make a strong comeback if they want to keep their hopes alive of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.