Bengaluru: In the pre-match press conference he on Friday Indian Cricket Team skipper Virat Kohli said that Ahead of the second Test starting on Saturday, they had learnt their lessons from the debacle.
“You will not see such a bad performance again, I will assure you that,” said skipper.
“It is important to accept defeats. We lost the Pune match because of lack of intent. Australia played better cricket. It is important to accept defeat, if you go by your ego or ignore it, it will affect you only. It doesn’t mean losing in Pune would result in us losing the other matches also,” he added.
However, Kohli did confirm that all-rounder Hardik Pandya was not yet fit to be considered for selection as he has niggle in his shoulder.
“Sometimes such defeats are necessary. This gave us a platform to understand where we lacked. It happens very rarely that the whole team does not perform, this is what happened in the last match. We learnt a lot from that loss,” Kohli said.
“Even if we win or lose, our preparation remains the same. The intensity remains the same even if we lose or win a match. Basically you don’t change the practice depending upon the result,” he added.
“It is better we focus on our skills rather than what Australia is saying. I know these are mind games that they come up during press conferences. We still have to play cricket as we are doing for the last few years,” he added.
“Jayant has been outstanding. You can’t put pressure on the guy who has played only one series. The way he has grabbed his spot, it has been outstanding. He is an intelligent cricketer,” last statement of Kohli in conference.