Outplayed by Pak, but not pressing panic button: Kohli
Dubai: Indian captain Virat Kohli on Sunday had no qualms in admitting that his team was “outplayed” by Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup here but said his players are not the ones to press the panic button.
Pakistan produced a clinical effort to crush India by 10 wickets for their first win in a World Cup match in 13 attempts.
Chasing 152 for victory after putting India in, Pakistan completed the task in 17.5 overs, leaving the Indian team and its millions of fans stunned.
“We did not execute the things that we wanted to but credit is certainly due – they (Pakistan) outplayed us today,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
India found themselves on the back-foot straightaway as they lost three wickets with just 31 runs on the board, thanks to Shaheen Shah Afridi’s menacing opening burst.
“When you lose three early wickets it’s very difficult to come back, especially when you know the dew is coming. They were very professional with the bat as well.
“Hitting through the line was not as easy in the first half as it seemed in the Pakistan innings, so when you know the conditions can change, you need 10-20 extra runs.
“But some quality bowling from Pakistan didn’t let us get off the blocks. We’re certainly not a team that presses the panic button, it’s the start of the tournament, not the end,” Kohli said.
India to regroup before New Zealand
Dubai: India captain Virat Kohli says the six-day gap before their next T20 World Cup match against New Zealand would greatly help his side reflect and re-strategise after the thoroughly comprehensive 10-wicket loss to Pakistan in the lung-opener here.
India lost to Pakistan in a World Cup for the first time in nearly three decades and the obvious question was whether, as captain, he would have liked a short turnaround or the fairly good break before the game against the Black Caps come Sunday?
“I think it works really well for us from all point of views. Knowing that we have played a full-fledged season already, we played the IPL, which is very high octane by itself in testing conditions here in the UAE, and then we come into the World Cup” Kohli said at the post-match press conference.
“So for us, these big breaks are definitely something that’s going to help us as a team to be in the prime physical condition that we need to be to play this high intensity tournament,” the skipper said.
The break, according to the Indian skipper, gives the team enough time to re-strategise and also focus on perfect execution of plans before the Kane Williamson-led side comes calling.
“The T20 World Cup is always a high intensity tournament, and it will help us, again, to regroup as a team… prepare in a very confident manner and then arrive on the day again to make sure that this time we execute our plans,” he explained.
“For us as a team personally I can say it’s a good thing that’s happening. We’ll have time to reflect and to prepare again,” the skipper added.
