India vs Australia 1st ODI: “Don’t think there can be any excuses,” Virat Kohli criticises Indian players ‘body language’

India vs Australia 1st ODI: “Don’t think there can be any excuses,” Virat Kohli criticises Indian players ‘body language’
Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli looked back on the first ODI between India and Australia and rued the fact that his side’s ‘body language was disappointing’. Australia secured a clinical 66-run win today over India in the first of three ODIs, at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Winning the toss and choosing to bat first, Australia got off to a fluent start courtesy openers David Warner and Aaron Finch‘s opening partnership.

After Warner’s dismissal for 69, Australian skipper Finch got to his 17th ODI century before No. 3 batsman Steve Smith also reached triple figures. Thanks also to Glenn Maxwell’s cameo, Australia posted a mammoth 374 runs on the board. In the chase, India started off briskly but kept losing wickets. Apart from Hardik Pandya and Shikhar Dhawan, no batsman could get going. In the end, India fell short by 66 runs. A key reason for the huge loss margin was also the number of catches that India dropped in the field.

‘As a batting unit, we committed nicely to positive cricket’

Virat Kohli with opposition skipper Aaron Finch

Speaking at the post-match presentation, Indian skipper Virat Kohli made it clear that his side can have no excuses. “Got enough time to prepare. Don’t think there can be any excuses. Probably the first long game we’ve played in a while, been playing T20 cricket. Probably that’s something that can have an effect. Body language wasn’t great after around 25 overs. If you don’t take your chances against a top-quality opposition they’ll make you pay,” he said.

Kohli also clarified that Hardik Pandya won’t be able to bowl and hence, India will be without a sixth bowling option throughout the series saying, “Unfortunately Hardik is not fit enough to bowl, and we don’t have other all-round options to pick from either, someone like Stoinis or Maxwell.”

Before signing off, Kohli expressed satisfaction with the batting performance saying, “From the batting point of view, we had a chat briefly now. All the batsmen committed to it which is why you saw us playing with intent. I think we gave ourselves the best chance. Hardik’s innings was the best example of that. As a batting unit we committed nicely to positive cricket and we are going to do that in the future as well.”

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