Calm Down Virat Kohli, All Will be Okay Soon

This was a highly anticipated test series for India, after a lot of success back home and how unfortunately has it ended! South Africa won the series 2-0 quite convincingly with a match yet to be played in the 3 match Test series. Will India be able to salvage some pride in the last game?

On a lighter note, India have registered series wins in the recent past away from home – in Sri Lanka and West Indies, but the performances in those overseas conditions actually don’t seem to count at all as this Indian side has lost the 3-match series after just the second match.

Following the 135-run defeat in the 2nd Test match in Centurion, Indian captain Virat Kohli was in the headlines after taking on a journalist in the post match presentation to clarify the questions asked with questions in return. This is how the heated conversation went:

Journalist: You spoke about the team not coming together well. Has that maybe been because of the changing of the selection? In over 30 Tests that you have been captain, you have changed your starting line-up in almost each and every Test played. And I think you would know that to win Test matches you also need a little bit of consistency and you guys have been lacking there? What would you put that down to and how would you say that you will continue changing your team and expect a different result?

Kohli: How many have we won out of 30?

Journalist: In how many have you changed the XI?

Kohli: How many have we won? How many have you won? 21 wins. Two losses. How many draws?

Journalist: How many in India?

Kohli: Doesn’t matter. Wherever we play, we try to do our best. I’m here to answer your questions not to fight with you.

The Indian captain who was very aggressive during this post match presentation didn’t stop there as he went on to counter question the journalist by saying “how many times did South Africa come close to winning games in India. Can you count?” My comment: LOL. Does this matter at all?

It seems like Virat Kohli and the management are not ready to accept the fact that India have won most of the Test matches and series because of home conditions. Where is India’s coach Ravi Shastri by the way? Even Duncan Fletcher, who produced worse results, can be considered better than Ravi.

One has to agree that India have created chances to win both the Test matches but until you get over the line ‘a defeat is always considered as a defeat’. India should talk about their positives after the heart-breaking series loss and see how they can improve themselves.

Tough times these are for Team India and they have to get over it and move on. A heated conversation with a journalist certainly won’t help Team India to win Test matches abroad. Let’s hope India will be back to winning ways in the longer format again!

Phaneendra Varma – All views are my own and they don’t reflect the views of this website. Post your comments below. Follow my Twitter handle (@Cric_Stat) for daily cricket stats!