“Will You Add An Extra Batsman?” Virat Kohli Answers The Burning Question: The Indian cricket team suffered an early morning collapse on day 4 of the 3rd Test match at Headingley in Leeds as the England cricket team registered a remarkable win by an innings and 76 runs to level the 5-match Test series 1-1.
England’s Ollie Robinson turned out to be the hero with the ball for his side with figures of 5/65 while Craig Overton picked 3 wickets. India resumed the day at 215/2 and lost their remaining eight wickets for just 63 runs as the hosts shipped to a comfortable win.
Talking in the post-match ceremony, team Indian skipper Virat Kohli said the middle-order collapse on Day 4 was down to ‘scoreboard pressure’ and went on to praise the England bowlers for their performance. He said:
“(It’s) basically down to scoreboard pressure. Always up against it when you get out for under 80 and the opposition puts up such a big score,”
He added:
“But we did well to stay in the game yesterday, fight back as much as we could, and gave ourselves a chance. But the pressure today was outstanding from the England bowlers and eventually they got the results they wanted,”
After India’s innings defeat in Leeds, Virat was asked if he will play with an extra batsman. Responding to this, Kohli said that playing an extra batsman is ‘no guarantee’ against a collapse and that the team is not ready to compromise on its ability to pick 20 wickets. He said:
“I don’t believe in that balance. I have never believed in that balance,” Kohli said. “Either you can try and save a defeat or you can try and win a game. And we have drawn games in the past with a similar number of batters in the team. So if your top 6 or 7 don’t do the job, then that extra guy is no guarantee of bailing you out every time.”
“You have to accept that as a team, you need to take responsibility and pride in doing the job. If you don’t have the ability or resources to take 20 wickets going into a Test match, then you are already playing for only two results. That’s not how we play.”
Virat defended his lower middle-order after a bad performance in Leeds. He said:
“The top order has to give enough runs for the lower middle-order to step up. We did pretty well in the first two games,”
“When you have a result like this, you can’t take too much from it. As a batting group we need to stay close and confident; even after 36 all out (against Australia in Adelaide), we came back.”
When asked about the first innings collapse which came after the Indian cricket team won the toss and opted to bat. Talking about the same, Kohli replied: “Quite bizarre, it can happen in this country, batting collapses. We thought the pitch was good to bat on, coming on nicely.
“But the discipline forced mistakes and the pressure was relentless. Difficult to cope when you’re not scoring runs. That caused the batting order to crumble.”
