Virat Kohli was not happy with his batters. (AFP Photo)
Indian batters were more experienced than their South African counterparts but were still overshadowed.
- Last Updated:January 14, 2022, 18:06 IST
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India captain Virat Kohli laid the blame squarely on his batters following their defeat in the series-deciding 3rd Test against South Africa on Friday. Having started the tour with a big win in Centurion, India frittered away the advantage to succumb to comprehensive defeats in Johannesburg and Cape Town to lose the three-match series 1-2.
“We have had too many batting collapses,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation. “Of course, it (batting failure) has been the reason, no doubt about that. Their (South Africa) bowlers were just better in terms of their execution and applying pressure. Batting is certainly something to be looked at. No excuses there. It’s really disappointing for sure.”
India managed to cross 300 once during their six innings and after that crossed 250 just once. Twice they were bowled out for less than 200.
And it was largely due to the failure of their middle-order with the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane struggling barring for the second innings in the 2nd Test when each struck a half-century.
Kohli said India lost focus in key moments and failed to perform when it mattered the most. “We played well in the first game to win but South Africa bounced back well in the second and carried on the momentum in the third as well,” Kohli said.
“There was some lapse of concentration from us as well in key moments. I thought South Africa performed better in those key moments and totally deserved the win. One of the challenges that we have faced touring abroad is to capitalise on momentum when it is on our side. Whenever we have done that, we’ve won games. But on other hand, when we haven’t done so, we have lost matches due to 30-45 minutes of cricket where we have batted badly,” he added.
The focus now shifts to the three-match ODI series that gets underway from January 19.
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