Skipper Virat Kohli says reaction to India's ICC Champions Trophy 180-run defeat to arch-rivals Pakistan is exaggerated only because it was a final
India captain Virat Kohli walks past the silverware during the presentation after the ICC Champions Trophy final against Pakistan in London on Sunday. Pic/AFP
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The dust will settle and life will move on after India's crushing defeat against Pakistan in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy final, much to the disappointment of millions of fans world over. As for Team India, they will look to improve on their upcoming assignment in the West Indies as they will analyse their performance and learn from the mistakes, which were aplenty at The Oval on Sunday. It was a classical case of how best-laid plans can go awry, both form and reputation going for a six.
With the advantage of hindsight, experts will dissect India's performance threadbare and point out where they went wrong. But for the Men in Blue, analysing the debacle and learning from it is essential for their success in future, both as a team and individually. Nobody knows this more than skipper Virat Kohli, who took the blow on the chin and graciously gave credit to the Pakistani team for the stupendous performance.
"We analyse our victories. We analyse defeats as well. You learn with every cricket game you play. It's up to you whether you are open to learning or no. We identify areas, even in victories, that we can improve on, and this is a loss. It's the final, so it looks magnified to everyone, but we have won before, we have lost before, and we have always learnt from those games," the skipper said after the defeat.
Probably where India went wrong was their wayward bowling effort, in which they conceded 25 extra runs, with 18 of them being wides and no-balls. Then there was a no-ball that deprived India of an early breakthrough and the batsman went on to get a century. The fielders too just could not find the target, missing out on guilt-edged run out chances. Seen in isolation, these mistakes are very minor, but in totality, they made a big difference to the outcome.
Kohli conceded that indeed the team erred in things they could have controlled: "Extras are never a good feeling. It's something we need to keep a check on. These things are controllable. A guy hitting a good shot is something that is not in your control because you've already bowled the ball, but conceding extras is something we can control. And yes, 25 extras is a bit too much, and that's something we certainly need to take care of in future."
Coincidentally, in both of India's defeats, Kohli, the batsman failed to get going. First, against Sri Lanka, he was out for a duck, and then in the final, he made just five. Kohli said personal goals didn't matter: "It wasn't about me coming to England and doing well. It was about the team doing well, and we have done well to be in the final. We can be very proud as a unit, and leave here with our heads held high."
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