In a post-match press conference after India lost the Cape Town Test against Proteas by seven wickets, skipper Virat Kohli admitted that the batting has let the team down and there is no running away from that.
“The batting has let us down. No running away from that. I can't sit here and talk about what will happen in the future. It's not my job. That's for the selectors. We will continue to back Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane,” Kohli said after losing the Test series against South Africa.
Dean Elgar’s men defended their fortress with ease, routing India by seven wickets in the third Test to seal the series 2-1. Keegan Petersen was the hero with a fantastic 82-run knock after Rishabh Pant’s century guided India to set just 212-run target to chase.
Virat, on being asked whether he would personally like to make some changes to the Test team after loss, said that these things can't be taken casually.
“I can't tell you anything now. The Test match just got over and no one has so much time to think about. We can't take these things casually. I don't think it is an apt question for now. I don't want to comment anything on it for now,” Virat said.
Marco Jansen picked up 7 wickets in the match while Kagiso Rabada contributed with 6 wickets to ensure India's below par batting performance in both the innings.
“Ifs and buts have no place in sport. Such an amazing thing to be part of moment that then passes. We can think about mistakes we made and try to correct them. No point focusing in the moments that didn't go our way,” Virat added.
"When we say batting, we mean numbers 8 and 10 too. It is a collective responsibility. Everyone knows it [that our lower order didn't contribute]. We lost too many wickets in clusters, which is why we lost this series,"
Kohli though gave credit to his opponents for the manner in which they staged the turnaround, a day after losing his cool over a DRS decision.
"I thought South Africa performed better in those key moments and totally deserved the win. One of the challenges that we have faced touring abroad is to capitalise on momentum when it is on our side. Whenever we have done that, we've won games. But on other hand, when we haven't done so, we have lost matches due to 30-45 minutes of cricket where we have batted badly.
“The opposition bowlers bowled well this series but generally, we haven't been consistent. We have had too many batting collapses. Of course, it (batting) has been the reason, no doubt about that. Their bowlers were just better in terms of their execution and applying pressure. Batting is certainly something to be looked at,” Virat said.
"No excuses there. It's really disappointing for sure. We did well in Australia and England but that doesn't guarantee us success in South Africa. The reality is that we haven't won here in South Africa and we have to deal with it. KL's batting as an opener. Mayank getting stuck in and then Rishabh's innings this game, these are some positives that we can take home. Also obviously, our win at Centurion was special," Virat signed off.
