Kohli vows intense comeback at Oval, says Leeds loss hurting, not demoralising

After an exhilarating win at Lord’s when they had decimated England inside 60 overs on the last day to earn a famous win, India were handed a harsh reality check by the Joe Root-led England, who were disciplined than them with the bat, and precise with the ball.

The question marks over Indian batsmen that were getting papered over by the remarkable composure of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma in the first two Tests were ripped open once again. 

Owning up the mistakes committed by his players across the four days of the Test, skipper Virat Kohli said that they have had gone through these situations when the world start doubting their credentials and reiterated confidence that it brings out only the best in them. 

He admitted that players are hurting but ruled out a “demoralised” Indian team going forward in the series citing that nothing in the game guarantees success as they have witnessed in Leeds after a thumping win at Lord’s.

India were guilty of not batting with control around their off stump on the first morning of the Leeds Test, but Kohli termed the failure in the game as an “aberration” and not particularly a general weakness. However, he conceded complete failure in the first innings while showing satisfaction over the improvement shown in the second innings.

"If what happens in one game guarantees you the same thing the next game, we should have smashed England again. It didn't happen. We like to be in this situation where people start coming at us with doubts and start questioning our ability. That is the situation we love best. We will not be demoralised by this loss. The guys in the changing room are hurt. When you are hurt, you really want to correct the things that did not go our way. That is the way we will play the next two Tests," Kohli said in the post-match press conference.

"As a batting group, we failed in this game in the first innings. Second innings we did a better job. As a bowling group also, we accept we are not consistent enough. That's it. I know what happens when we lose one game. I have said this in the past so many times that we are not going to fall into this trap where we start picking on issues or one or two things to talk about. We fail as a team, and we win as a team."

"This game has been kind of an aberration in how we have gone this series. First two games, we put ourselves in a position where we won one game and had the opportunity to win the first one as well. We analyse ourselves as a team and not numbers. That all happens on the outside. Whether we are helping to build partnerships and putting the team in good positions is our only focus. There is no connect between the focuses on the outside and focuses within the group."

India will be particularly disappointed with batsmen not making the best use of their hard-earned starts. All batsmen including Rohit Sharma, Chetehswar Pujara, Rahane and captain Kohli himself worked hard, especially in the second innings, but failed to step up the tempo and convert those starts into substantial scores that could have saved India from the embarrassment of a loss by an innings.

However, he defended the batting group and said that they would be looking forward to correcting those mistakes they have committed so far in the series. He said that batsmen don’t go out there to prove people wrong or right but instead they go out there to play big innings and contribute to the team’s success.

"They have done that (scoring runs) in the first two games. And even in this game, batsmen got in good positions to play a big knock. We were not able to do that but that doesn't mean we will not be able to do that. When you step onto the field, you are not looking to prove to people that you can play. You obviously want to do the best you can and play big innings. The reason why we won the second Test or were in a position to win the first was because guys stepped up and got the job done for the team."

Wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has also come under fire after a string of low scores in the series and more worryingly, he has been found out around off stump for not having a solid defence to defend good balls. He has tried to take the game to the bowlers from the word go to get going but that move has not worked for him either so far in the series. 

Kohli refused to judge Pant’s performances based on absolute numbers and took reference to “conversations” about Pujara’s form to shield his young and bashing number six. He promised Pant “space to play his game” while also pointing out the need of understanding game situations and taking more responsibility.

He refused to do a comprehensive post-mortem of India’s batting demise in the Leeds Test and said that individual performances will only be assessed and analysed after the end of the series against England.

"With one loss I cannot assess or start analysing that as captain. Definitely, the management is not going to start that either. We are not failing consistently as a team. Yes we failed this game and we take responsibility for that. Similar conversations were being initiated about Pujara as well, which seem to have disappeared after yesterday. We want to give Rishabh all the space to play his game and understand situations and take responsibility like is expected of everyone else in the batting order. You can't judge people all the time on numbers and whether they are succeeding or failing. That is not how you make a team. There is still time in this series. After two more Test matches, we can look back and analyse, 'okay these are the areas that were not quite right,' but right now is not the time,” the skipper concluded.

India will have their task cut out in the next game at the Oval as England might as well prepare a lively surface taking confidence from their brittle batting in Leeds. The tourists have also some tough selection calls to take in both the batting and bowling department. 

The question of Ravichandran Ashwin always hovers over Kohli’s press conferences and the pitches at the Oval have a reputation of aiding spinners that could pave the way for his return. India will also have to ponder over the lacklustre performances from the vice-captain Rahane, whose nervous batting in both the innings at Headingley exposed his fragile mind and poor application.

Kohli has vowed to return with great intensity at the Oval and he would be eager to get back among runs himself after not converting another good start into a substantial and match-defining score.