Virat Kohli optimistic about India's challenge in Australia despite England humbling

Sport360 staff 01:47 12/09/2018
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  • Kohli's India went down 1-4 to Joe Root's England.

    India might have fallen to a 4-1 series defeat at the hands of England but skipper Virat Kohli remains confident that the side can put up a much tougher fight in its next overseas assignment in Australia.

    The visitors were dealt a 118-run loss in the final Test against England at the Oval with the hosts finishing the job in the final session of the match.

    Despite the margin of defeat, Kohli believes there is plenty for cause for optimism for India when they visit Australia at the end of the year.

    “What matters to me is the kind of attitude you play cricket with. We said at the end of the fourth game that we won’t throw in the towel and we didn’t,” the 29-year-old stated.

    “This kind of series shows you exactly the kind of character of individuals and I see that as an opportunity and not adversity because if you keep winning all the time a lot of faults are swept under the carpet, you don’t realise the faults you need to work on,” he added.

    Kohli finished as the series' top-scorer with 593 runs.

    Kohli finished as the series’ top-scorer with 593 runs.

    The 4-1 scoreline does not tell half the story of the series with India throwing away advantageous positions multiple times. Kohli rued his side’s failure to drive home the advantage at crucial cinctures of the series.

    “We were not able to hold that pressure for long enough with the bat and the ball as well, so at crucial stages we could not keep that pressure on for long, and that is why they took advantage of those situations better than us,” he said.

    “The progress has been there… we need to recognise when the situation is in our favour and how to solidify that situation even further, and make sure that the opposition cannot get back in to the game.

    “More often than not, we have given the advantage to the opposition rather than them brilliantly turning around a situation.”

    India are slated to play three T20s, four Tests and three ODIs in their tour of Australia which begins at the end of November. After failing to start well in the tours of South Africa and now England, Kohli wants his side to be ready from the very go Down Under.

    “We can’t warm up in to a series because the first Test is always crucial, and we need to make sure we are in the right frame of mind to be able to do all the things right to strike first,” the series’ top-scorer with the bat said.

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