Indian skipper Virat Kohli has admitted that the Indian Cricket Team was not brave enough with the bat and ball in the match against New Zealand.
New Zealand defeated India with eight wickets while Pakistan had defeated India with 10 wickets. Indian cricket fans have been extremely upset with the poor performance of the team in the T20 World Cup 2021. Cricket analysts and commentators believe that a crushing defeat against Pakistan has demoralized the Indian cricket team and hence they are spiraling into fear of losing.
In the post-match conference, Virat Kohli spoke about how the team is suffering from a lack of confidence.
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New Zealand had better body language: Virat Kohli
“Quite bizarre. To be very honest and brutal up front, I don’t think we were brave enough with bat or ball,” Kohli told the host broadcaster during the post-match presentation. “With the ball, I mean, obviously we didn’t have much to play with, but we were just not brave enough with our body language when we entered the field, and New Zealand had better intensity, better body language, and they created pressure on us from the first over onwards, really, and continued that through the innings.
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“Every time we felt like we want to take a chance [while batting], we lost a wicket. That happens in T20 cricket, but that’s most probably or most often the result of that little bit of hesitation with the bat when you feel like should you go for the shot or not.”
He said that the Indian cricket team and players have failed to overcome the pressure that comes with playing in the global tournament.
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“When you play for the Indian cricket team, you have a lot of expectations, everyone knows that – not only from the fans but from the players themselves,” he said. “Wherever we play, we are watched, people come to the stadiums to support us, so there’s always going to be more with our games, that’s always been the case, and we’ve embraced it over the years, and everyone who plays for the Indian team has to embrace that as well, and learn how to cope with it.
SPINELESS , rightly described by Virat Kohli . pic.twitter.com/BQ8piqE4RO
— Yashvi (@BreatheKohli) October 31, 2021
“And when you cope with that as a team, you tend to overcome that pressure and those tough situations. And we haven’t, in these two games, and that’s why we haven’t won,” said Virat Kohli while commenting on the defeat against New Zealand.
India is standing at the brink of elimination from the tournament from the event. India will have to win its matches against Namibia, Scotland, and Afghanistan but that too will not guarantee its qualification for the semi-finals.