"We weren't aware enough about what to do on that pitch" - Virat Kohli after first T20I loss
Reviewing his team's 8-wicket thumping against England in the first T20I in Ahmedabad on Friday, Indian captain Virat Kohli has said that the hosts failed to come to terms with the two-paced track. He also added that lack of application and execution cost Team India the match.
Indian batsmen looked wanting in Ahmedabad, as England pacers kept them to an under-par total of 124-7. Barring Shreyas Iyer, who top-scored with a gritty 67, none of the batsmen failed to get going, with Virat Kohli recording a 5-ball duck.
In the post-match presentation, Kohli said the pitch wasn't conducive to free-flowing shots. However, the 32-year-old also admitted that his team could take some learnings from Iyer's knock going ahead in the series.
"We just weren't aware enough about what we had to do on that pitch; lack of execution on our shots is something we have to address as batsmen. Accept your faults, come back with more intent, clarity of plans on the areas you want to hit. It was a strange kind of a start for us. Wicket didn't allow you to hit the shots we wanted to. Shreyas showed how to use the depth of the crease and ride the bounce because there was variable bounce on that pitch. It was just a below-par batting performance, and England made us pay for it," said Virat Kohli.
The talk about showing intent has almost become a platitude before the T20I series. When asked about the same, Virat Kohli admitted that his batsmen might have gone ahead of themselves in that regard.
"We looked to try a few things, but having said that, you have to accept the conditions that are in front of you. If the pitch allows you to, you can be aggressive from ball one. But we got ahead of ourselves a little bit. We didn't spend enough time assessing it; Shreyas did, but we had lost too many wickets to get to 150-160," observed Virat Kohli.
England batters took advantage of the dew, India's rusty fielding and an easy target to conclude their chase in a canter.
Jason Roy and Jos Buttler laid a solid foundation with a 72-run opening stand before Jonny Bairstow (26*) and Dawid Malan (24*) concluded proceedings without any hiccups.
"Sometimes it doesn't come off" - Virat Kohli on his duck
Addressing his own poor run of form, Virat Kohli accepted that there are highs and lows in a player's career. Kohli also said that he would have to stay true to his plans and try and come back strongly in the next game.
"It's part of the journey of international cricket. When you play for that long, you have ups and down. On your day, you will end up scoring much more, sometimes it doesn't come off. But the important thing is to stay true to your intent and plans as a batsman and accept that the bowling team can come out and execute their plans better than you. For me, it has always been about going out there and trying to be as positive as I can," said Virat Kohli.
The second T20I between India and England starts at the same venue on Sunday, March 14.