England thumped India in the 3rd Test match of the ongoing 5-match series at Headingly in England. The series is currently level 1-1 with 2 more matches to go. The fourth Test match will be played at The Oval beginning on Thursday (Sep 02). Before going further into the series, let us recall what Indian captain Virat Kohli has had to say after losing the third Test match in which they were bowled out for 78 runs on Day 1 after opting to bat first!
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| Indian captain Virat Kohli (Image Credits: Inside Sport) |
When asked about Cheteshwar Pujara who scored 91 runs in India's second innings.
We are very pleased with how Cheteshwar batted in the second innings. Outside noise, we don't know what's going on and we don't care. so that's none of our business! we know that he was playing well and just a matter of time when he starts to find his rhythm again. We analyzed our team in terms of what situations we are putting ourselves in and not with the numbers. That happens on the outside. Whether we are helping the team to build partnerships and are we putting the teams in good positions is the only focus within the group!
Virat had a nice punch line when asked about the issues they had at Headingly.
As a batting unit, we failed in this first innings. In the second innings, we did a better job with the bat. The bowling group, we accept that we are not consistent enough. And that's it. We are not going to fall into the space where we start picking on one or two issues to talk about. "We fail as a team and we win as a team"!
Should India go in with extra batter in this England series?
I don't believe in that balance. We have drawn games in the past as well with a similar number of batters in the game. If your top 6 or 7 don't do the job, that extra guy is no guarantee of bailing you out every time. You have to accept that as a team, you take responsibility and take pride in doing the job.
When asked about Rishabh Pant's performance with the bat.
Similar conversations were initiated about Pujara as well which seem to have disappeared after yesterday [India's second innings at Headingly on Day 4]. We want to give Rishabh Pant all the space he needs to play his game and understand the situations and take responsibility which was expected from everyone else in the batting order. You cannot judge everyone on numbers, like succeeding or failing.
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