Virat Kohli
Following the T20I series victory against Australia on Tuesday, India skipper Virat Kohli has said that he's optimistic about their performance in the much-awaited Test series, scheduled to start from December 17 at Adelaide. Kohli, however, will head back home after the first Test to be with wife Anushka Sharma, who's expecting the couple's first child.
Hosts India had already gained an unassailable 2-0 lead by winning the first two games of the T20I series. They, however, failed to etch a clean sweep after losing the third match at the SCG by 12 runs.
While chasing a 186-run total, India were jolted with an early blow in the form of KL Rahul. After Rahul's early dismissal, Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan weaved a 74-run stand to keep India in the contest. While Kohli ended up scoring 85 off 61 deliveries, Dhawan scored 28. In the end, India managed to post just 174 runs on the scoreboard, missing out on the chance to register a 3-0 series victory.
Unaffected by the defeat in the third T20I, Kohli said that the team needs to take one session at a time in the Test series. The Indian skipper also admitted that their below-par batting in middle overs cost them the game.
"At one stage when Hardik started going, we thought we could pull it off. The middle over phase during our batting cost us the game. A partnership of 30-odd would've made it easier for Hardik. We are finding ways to come back and give the opposition a scare and the series win is a little asterisk for us to finish the 2020 season on a high. I feel the crowd was a factor as well, it's always giving you a dimension of motivation," said Kohli in the post-match presentation.
"Our crowd pulls us through sometimes, and Australia's too, and we as players feed off the crowd's energy. We need to take the same competitive attitude into the Tests, and having played here a few times, we can score runs as well. Once it's time to capitalize and score, we need to do that session by session. I'm sure the current side is stronger than last time (Test matches) and I'll see if I can play the tour match," he added.
