India captain Virat Kohli urged his teammates to "keep it simple" in the rest if the three Test matches against Engalnd, if they want to make a comeback in the five-match Test series.
India made 107 and 130 in the second Test at Lord's, which led to an innings and 159-run defeat for the visitors on Sunday. India is trailing by 0-2 in the five-match series with the third game beginning on August 18 in Nottingham.
I don’t see any technical deficiency. If a batsman is clear in the head and he’s clear about the plans he’s taking, then if the ball does something off the pitch, you’re able to counter it.Virat Kohli
"If my head's clouded then I feel like the ball can do this, or that, or even that. You know there are three-four scenarios that run in your head. It sounds cliche but as the greats have said, keep this game simple, that's all you have to do. You can't come to England and think the conditions are too difficult because they are really not if you're prepared to counter them.
The skipper said the demons in the head have to be conquered.
"Any conditions in the world can be easy or as difficult. In India, if you're not mentally there it seems like the ball is doing a whole lot, even when it's not."
The weather also did not favour India, who batted in overcast conditions while England scored their runs in bright sunshine on day three.
A lot of people are talking about the conditions, that we batted during a difficult time. On the day that was good, we had to bowl. And again, today (Sunday) was overcast and we had to bat. If we think about these things, we won’t be able to plan for the future.Virat Kohli
"There is nothing to be gained from thinking about what has happened and thinking what if. Going ahead in this series, we need to look at the mistakes we've made in this game and correct them. A sportsman has no other options," felt the captain.
During the second innings, Kohli batted at number five as his back problems resurfaced. The star batsman was hopeful that he would be fit in time for the next match.
"Back is one thing that can be very tricky when it goes off. It happened during the latter half of the last leg of the South Africa tour when I missed a T20 game because that was very sudden. It happened one day before. The good thing is I have five days before the next Test.
We are confident with rehab and strengthening I should be ready for the next game although not (with) the same intensity in the field. But I should be good enough to hold a position in the field and be 100 per cent with the bat.Virat Kohli
There are problems across the board for India, as their openers failed in both Birmingham and Lord's, while barring Kohli, the middle-order didn't turn up either. Kohli said that no particular batsman could be blamed for this failure.
"Right now, it's not purely thinking that the openers haven't fired or the middle order hasn't done well, because as a batting unit, we haven't done well in this game as a whole.
It’s very difficult to pinpoint anyone. All we have to do is gear up for the next game, come out positive and not think about that I’ve done well...It’s all about making the team win, and doing anything that we can to make that happen.Virat Kohli
"What's been sad is that we haven't had both bat and bowl coming together. I don't think it's unfortunate totally because you can't rely on fortune and luck in every game that you play," said Kohli.
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