‘Really hurts’: Virat Kohli after India’s humbling defeat against Australia

The Indian cricket team will aim to put the ignominious defeat in the opening Test match of the series against Australia and look forward to rising from the ashes and pull one back in the four-match Test series. Virat Kohli, the Indian captain, dismayed at his team’s performance said, “It’s very hard to put those feeling into words.”

“We had a lead of 60-odd when we arrived. And then just collapsed. Played two days of good cricket to get in a position and then just lose it in an hour. Really hurts,” Kohli said during the post-match presentation.

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The Indian batting order folded quite easily as the Australian bowling unit ran through them. For India, Mayank Agarwal (9) and Hanuma Vihari (8) scored the highest.

“Probably didn’t have enough intent in the batting today. It’s something that needs to be reflected and learned from. Bowlers bowled similar kinds of areas in the first innings as well, but then our mindset was to get runs. There were some good balls. But I don’t think it did anything drastic. Just the atmosphere was created where runs were difficult to come by.” Kohli said about India’s batting performance.

“I think it was a combination of both – lack of intent, and bowlers bowling in good areas. Obviously, you want to be committed to the team’s cause. I’m confident the boys going forward will reflect on this and come up with a better result on Boxing Day,” Kohli further added.

Mohammed Shami, who got himself injured with a nasty bouncer from Pat Cummins, retired hurt as India finished at 36/9.

“No news on Shami, he’s going for a scan now. Was in a lot of pain, couldn’t even lift his arm. We’ll probably know in the evening what happens,” Kohli spoke about Shami’s injury.

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India not only registered their lowest ever Test score but also it is the first time none of their batsmen got into double figures. And losing nine wickets in around 100 minutes just shows how dominant the Australian bowlers were.

This is the first time in 26 Tests that India have lost when Virat Kohli had won the toss. This is also the 35th time India lost the first Test of a series (2+ Tests) outside Asia and they ended up losing the series in 31 of those with three ending in a draw.