Virat Kohli fires back at critics over his batting form after NZ trashing

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Image Courtesy: Getty/AFP

A 3-0 whitewash in the ODIs, and now lacklustre batting performance resulting in the first Test match defeat. The tour of New Zealand, what started with a stunning T20 victory, is now turning sour for Virat Kohli and the squad, and the captain himself isn’t having the best of time on the 22 yards. Hitting his lowest series average of the last 5 years in the ODI, and scored only 21 across the two innings in the first Test. As a result, reprimand is flowing in from critics and pundits, but Kohli has made a strong statement against them.

Image Courtesy: Getty/AFP

Known for his passion and endorsement of the Test format, the Indian supporters were expecting a strong comeback in the Test series, for a victorious conclusion of the lengthy tour of New Zealand. Unfortunately, the Kiwis have pressed on with their trong bowling performance, and the Indian batting order failing massively, resulting a historical 10-wicket victory for the hosts today at Basin Reserve.

Kohli scored a total of 21 in the first Test, and 19 in the second innings on the 3rd day came off including three boundaries, until losing his wicket against Trent Boult in the 45th over, as India went down 113 for 4.

Although, the star batsman feels otherwise about his form on the pitch: “I am absolutely fine, I am batting really well. I feel that sometimes that scores don’t reflect the way you are batting. That’s what happens sometimes when you don’t execute really well.”

In his 9 years of international Test cricket, Kohli has earned 84 caps. With stunning figures of 7202 runs and 54.97 batting average, the player feels the worse forms are not to be overthought.

“Look when you play so much cricket and play for so long, you will obviously have 3-4 innings which don’t go your way. If you try and make too much out of it, it will keep piling on. I think it’s about staying in a good space,” Kohli added.

The 31 year old, who is holding the top position in the ICC’s Test batting rankings with 928 ratings, might see him dropping down in the list regarding the performance in the second Test.

However, Kohli concluded that the final result matters more than his personal feats: “It doesn’t matter what I do. It’s not about my performance on the tour. If the team wins, even a 40 is good. If the team loses, even a 100 is irrelevant. I am going to stay in that mindset.”

With trailing 1-0 behind the Black Caps, India is preparing for the second and series concluding Test this Saturday at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

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