Heading into the Pune Test against Australia, Virat Kohli’s Indian team were labelled as the firm favorites. They had swept aside New Zealand 3-0, England 4-0 and Bangladesh in the one-off Test. Australia, on the other hand, had not won a Test in India since 2004 and had lost seven consecutive Tests in the country stretching back to 2008. Read More | This was our worst batting performance and we need to accept it: Virat Kohli However, in three days, Steven Smith’s inexperienced team turned the tables spectacularly to end Kohli’s 19-match undefeated streak since 2015 as they routed India by 333 runs, the second-biggest margin of victory in terms of runs in Tests in India. Smith led from the front with his 18th Test century while Steve O’Keefe put in a career-defining performance with a match haul of 12/70. Virat Kohli was dismissed for 0 and 13 in the Pune Test as India suffered a heavy loss. (BCCI) For Kohli, it was not only a poor match as captain, it was a poor Test with the bat. In the first innings, he was dismissed for 0 for the first time in Tests since August 2014 while in the second innings, he suffered a lapse in judgment as he left a straight ball from O’Keefe to be bowled for 13. The match aggregate of 13 was the lowest for Kohli when it comes to batting in both innings. Speaking about the dismissal, Kohli said it was an error in judgment from his side. “I left the ball a bit too early. I should have waited for the ball a bit more. I did not cover the line and this was totally my fault.” Batsmen did not apply themselves Although he was full of praise for the Australian bowlers, Kohli heavily criticised the batsmen for not applying themselves and said that was the key factor in losing the Test. “Their spinners bowled very well. Our spinners also did a good job. Our batsmen let us down. If you don’t apply yourself, any bowling attack can look dangerous. Even a part-timer can get four wickets if you don’t apply yourself. We put ourselves under immense pressure by conceding a 155-run lead in the first innings and it was very difficult to pull things back from that point,” fumed Kohli. ‘Needed this reality check’ The Indian skipper said the team had to take the result on the chin and credited the Australian bowlers for maintaining consistent pressure. “We needed something like this in order to have a reality check and understand what we need to work on. We must not take anything for granted at the international level and in Tests,” Kohli said The Indian skipper also said that they were not too disturbed about the loss and pointed out that India can bounce back in style. “The last time we had a performance like this, we had fabulous run after the Galle Test. One must not get overexcited,” Kohli said. India’s previous loss before the Pune Test was against Sri Lanka in Galle in August 2015 but following the loss, India bounced back in style as they won the series 2-1 and they went on to register series wins over South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand, England and Bangladesh. They were undefeated in 19 matches starting from that Test. India will be hoping to bounce back from this defeat ahead of the second Test in Bengaluru starting on March 4.

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