Southampton: India skipper Virat Kohli has indicated an overhaul of his Test team after an eight-wicket loss against New Zealand at the World Test Championship final stating he may bring ‘right people who have the right mindset to perform.’
Expressing his displeasure Kohli did not name anyone but said that some players are not showing the spirit to score runs. “We will continue to reassess and continue to have conversations around what are the things required to strengthen our side and not follow or fall prey to certain patterns,” Kohli said at the post-match press conference.
“We will not wait for a year or so and have to plan ahead. If you see our white-ball team now, we have great depth and guys are ready and confident. Same thing needs to be done with Test cricket. You have to reassess and re-plan and understand what dynamics work for the team and how we can be fearless. Bring in right people who have right mindset to perform.”
The Indian batting line-up wasn’t up to the mark on the final day crumbling for paltry 170 asking New Zealand for 140 runs to win the historic Test. New Zealand captain Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor forged an unbeaten 96 runs to bring home an ICC trophy for the first time in 21 years.
“I think evolving with the game and improving yourself with the game is very important and when you have been a top side for few years in a row, you don’t want to suddenly drop your standards. We will certainly take those decisions and have those conversations and in near future,” the skipper added.
He also spoke about finding ways to score runs against quality attacks like that of New Zealand. India scored only 217 in the first innings and didn’t even cross the 200-run mark in the second effort.
“We definitely need to work out better plans on understanding how to score runs. We have to stay in sync with the momentum of the game and not let the game drift away too much. I don’t think there are any technical difficulties as such,” he said.
Kohli also urged his batsmen to take calculated risks and strike a balance between strokeplay and holding an end. “The endeavour would be to try and score runs and not worry about getting out in testing conditions. That’s the way you can put opposition under pressure, otherwise you are standing there hoping that you don’t get out and you are not being optimistic enough. You have to take calculated risks against a quality bowling attack like NZ,” he concluded.
