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AUS vs IND: Kohli laments 'lack of intent' from batsmen; admits 'worst batting collapse'

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When Jasprit Bumrah had survived the tough session late on day 2, Virat Kohli was seen very happy and he commended Bumrah for showing a strong character with the bat after he, along with other bowlers, had brought India back in the game. The happiness on Kohli’s face was justified given the state of the game where India were leading the Australians by 62 runs and he would have hoped for a similar performance from the batsmen in the second innings on day three, like they had shown on day one of the Test. 

But, he must have realised this about the pink-ball Test that things happen very quickly here and poor performance in a span of 20 minutes can throw you off the game.

India were bowled out for 36 runs, their lowest team total in the history of Test cricket and Virat Kohli admitted that he had never seen a worse batting collapse than this. However, he expressed optimism that the team would learn the lessons albeit in a harsh way and all players will step up their games as he is heading back home for the birth of his first child.

"A few of the guys are going to realise their true characters and how they can step up for the side. I'm very confident that we will learn from this. I don't think we have ever had a worse batting collapse than this, and it can only go up from here and understand, as a team, we can do special things when there is a partnership. I'm sure we will bounce back strongly in the next Test and there is no doubt about that," the India skipper said in the post-match press conference.

For captains such as Virat Kohli, staying ahead of the opposition has always been the key to win test matches and he pointed out that the batsmen missed that trick on the morning of the third day. He reiterated the second famous word in Indian cricket nowadays - ‘intent’ - with ‘talent’ being the number one buzzworthy word. He said that if the opposition can sense the amount of pressure you are putting on yourself as a batsman in crunch situations like the one they faced in the morning, they can go for the kill and will attempt to squeeze further to dominate. 

“As much as you plan on the team level, individuals need to have the right mindset in these critical moments and take the game forward. That is how you move towards winning. If your mindset is not right, like ours wasn't today, when we lacked in intent, the opposition can sense it and put you under extreme pressure. That is exactly what happened. The individuals will have to see how they can have the mindset to take the game forward given the team's situation," Kohli added. 

He identified his own batting style and said that whenever he has been successful in combating situations like the one they faced today, he always looks to attack to put the pressure back on the bowling side. He stressed that the Indian batsmen did not bat with the right frame of mind and put themselves under a lot of pressure, which ultimately led to their downfall. He tried to show intent after the fall of crucial wickets around him but Australia was to have a better day than him and his team as he edged a delivery off Pat Cummins to a tumbling Cameron Green positioned at the gully.

" Whenever we have performed well, especially overseas… see you can make all the team plans you want, it is more important what the mindset of the individuals taking the field is. At an individual level, you have to be clear when you step on the field as to how you want to play, whether you want to take the game forward or you want to play absolutely solid. That you are very sound defensively and are feeling comfortable. Historically, I can tell you whenever I have batted well in these situations, my plan has been to go and get quick 30-40 runs and take the game forward. This is very significant,” Kohli added.

Indian bowlers had bowled admirably on day 2 to pull back things after they seemed to have lost control following their dismissal for a mere 244 through a collapse in the lower-order. India had a lead of 53 runs and it all needed a solid display of batting performance to stamp their authority on the flow of the game.

Experts, as well as fans, had viewed the lead as a significant tactical advantage for the tourists, but interestingly, Kohli saw the lead in a different context. He said that the lead had put batsmen on notice that they were close to a winning performance and ultimately adopted a much more cautious approach than he would have liked his fellow batsmen to have. He again stressed on the issue of ‘lack of intent shown by the batsmen as they had shown in the first innings where the bowlers were bowling similarly to what they bowled in the second innings which turned out to be mayhem for the Indian batting line up.

"A bit of lead can always be tricky because as a batting unit, you can go into a headspace where you feel like we are just 50 or 60 ahead and you don't want to lose early wickets and allow opposition back into the game. So you always have to be positive and you can't think like that. Hence I said we lacked intent because we should have just seen where the game has to go rather than where it has come to till now and move the game forward, which we were not able to do. I think the way we batted allowed them to look more potent than they were in the morning, to be honest. They bowled similarly in the first innings and we batted way, way better,” Kohli added.

Kohli also lamented the poor fielding efforts by his team as they dropped as many as five catches that included three of Marnus Labuschagne and one of Tim Paine and, in the end, both were the top scorers for the Australian side and trimmed the lead to only 53 which looked a distant reality when wickets were falling in clusters. Kohli rued the dropped catches and said that his team learned the lesson of not dropping catches in the harshest way possible. He said if the fielders could have grabbed the chances offered to them by the Australian batsmen, the lead might have been more than 100 and in case the Men in Blue had got off to a good start, it was the home side, not India, that would have panicked under pressure.

"I think it was seven down for 110. If I am not wrong when Tim Paine offered a chance and then he got 70-odd from thereon. Then Marnus Labuschagne. A couple of chances off him as well. So Test cricket, you have to take your chances when they come your way. They can be very very costly, something that we realised in a very harsh way today what the repercussions of not taking those chances can be, and will be in Test cricket. Teams will not offer you opportunities again and again. You have to take them when they come your way and try and capitalise on that momentum. That definitely would have been a boost for us if we had a lead of a few runs more. Then we are already over 100, and with a decent start, the opposition starts panicking," Kohli came down heavily on his teammates for a poor day in the field and letting Australia off the hook.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced cricketers and athletes to stay in bio-secure bubbles in order to participate in games and Virat Kohli had earlier warned about the fatigue and the effects of a prolonged period in isolation on the mental health of players. He was asked if the batting collapse had anything to do with ‘quarantine fatigue’ and the Indian captain plainly ruled out that theory, saying “I don’t think so.” He said that the team has been playing as a unit for a fairly long period of time and that they understand the roles they are expected to play in different circumstances of a game. He blamed the execution part of the game and not the fatigue behind the failures in the first Test.

"I don't think so," Kohli said. "We have played enough cricket to understand what needs to be done at different stages of a Test match, and it is just a lack of execution. It is just a lack of executing a plan that is apt for the situation, and it is to move the game. Day three is called moving day and you drive home the advantage. Lead of 62 runs with nine wickets in hand, should have definitely put in a better batting performance. I don't think any mental fatigue was involved, it was only the first Test of the series," Kohli weighed in on the aspects of the team’s performance.

Things can go wrong in more ways for the Indians as their leading pacer Mohammed Shami has taken a blow to his right arm and might miss the next Test if the injury turns out to be serious. Kohli confirmed that Shami was not able to lift his hands due to unbearable pain and the team management would be fretting at Shami’s injury with Ishant Sharma already being absent from the tour due to injury and the effects of his absence were telling on the Indian bowling line up.

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