LONDON: India captain Virat Kohli on Monday reassured fans that the team will not give up despite the humiliating loss that India suffered against England in the first two Tests. “Sometimes we win and other times we learn. You never give up on us and we promise to never give up on you either. Onwards and upwards,” Kohli wrote on his official Facebook page.
The brief post was accompanied by a picture of the Indian team in an on-field huddle. The Indian team has lost two Tests in the ongoing five-match series by heavy margins.
After losing to England by an inning and 159-runs at the Lord’s, Kohli had admitted that they deserved to lose. “I am not very proud of the way we played to be honest. It is first time in the last five Test matches we’ve been outplayed. But credit to England, they were clinical. When a team plays like that they deserve to be on the winning side. And we deserved to lose,” he had said in the post-match presentation.
He had also accepted that the team combination was “a bit off” and added that the team cannot blame the conditions for the loss. “Sometimes the rub of the green will go your way too. We will not sit around and say that we didn’t have the best of conditions. Their bowlers were relentless with the ball. Looking at things now, the weather was so unpredictable,” he had said.
England has taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match series against India. Following the losses, the Board of Control for Cricket in India is likely to question chief coach Ravi Shastri and Kohli for the performance. On conditions of anonymity, a senior BCCI official had told news agency PTI: “The Indian team cannot complain that they were not given enough time to prepare. When we lost the South Africa series, the players spoke about tight scheduling and lack of practice games. It was after speaking to them that we decided that white ball matches will be held before the Tests.”
It was also rumoured that the board is set to take a call on Shastri-Kohli’s complete freedom in the team management. “We arranged white ball matches first. It was on the senior team’s insistence that we send India ‘A’ team during the same time starting the concept of ‘Shadow Tour’, Whatever they wanted, they were provided. Now if results don’t come, the Board is well within its rights to ask questions,” the official added.
Source: Zee News