Team is going to bounce back in Melbourne: Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli was left dejected after a dismal show by the batters on the third day of the Adelaide Test. The skipper termed it the worst he has been part of it, but urged people not to make a ‘mountain out of a molehill’.

Kohli brushed aside the suggestions that the team got complacent, saying that international cricket does not have a place for terms like comfort zone, and those thinking otherwise need a reality check.

“There is no comfort zone at the international level. There is no comfort zone in preparation or training. So people who want to relate this to comfort zone should really get a reality check that it’s pressure and not comfort zone. Having played for so long I can definitely tell you straight up,” Kohli said during the virtual press conference.

While Kohli termed it the worst batting performance he has been part of, he added that there will be collapses at this level of cricket.

“I don’t think we have ever had a worse batting performance than this. So we can only go upwards from here and you will see guys stepping up and realising their true characters. “I don’t think it’s alarming and we can very well sit here and make a mountain out of a molehill, it’s basically looking at things in the right perspective.”

“There will definitely be collapses again and again and we have to accept our mistakes and what we need to work on,” he said. “This is not club level cricket and obviously there is a lot of pressure involved at different stages and as batsmen, we take pride in doing our job for the team. We are not vulnerable to getting out cheaply or vulnerable to a collapse.”

With Kohli leaving for India, the skipper sounded confident that that team is going to recover from the jolt in the matches to come.

“We’ve played enough cricket to understand what needs to be done at different stages in a Test match and it’s just lack of execution,” Kohli said.

“I would definitely have loved it for a fact if we had won this game. Leaving with victory would have been great but having said that, this is Test cricket and anything can happen at any stage. I’m confident that the team is going to bounce back in Melbourne and few of the guys are going to realise their true character and how they can step up for the team. I am very confident that we will definitely learn from this.”