Post leveling the series at Bengaluru, Virat Kohli and his men square off in the third Test against the visitors Australia at the JSCA Stadium, Ranchi – with an aim of taking lead in the series. The game is highly crucial and will potentially decide which of the sides will take away the series honours.
While the above mentioned factors remain the core concern, the prelude to the Test has added more zing to the fixture. The DRS-gate involving both the competing team skippers – Virat Kohli and Steve Smith – made up for the top headline after the conclusion of the second Test in Bengaluru.
But, fortunately, things now seem to have boiled down completely as Virat Kohli, in a pre-match interaction with the media, stressed emphasis on focusing on remainder of the series rather than stretching the matter unnecessarily.
“I feel we should focus on the remainder of the series. There is a lot of cricket to be played and it should not happen in a bad taste. What’s happened in Bangalore has happened in Bangalore and we are in Ranchi now. So, we should look forward to Thursday. Both teams have moved ahead from Bengaluru, the priority has to be on cricket.”
Kohli also clarified he doesn’t regret anything he said in the post-match conference (of the Bengaluru Test) that created such a stir.
“I think about what I say and don’t regret anything. It is very important not to go on with the same thing on the daily basis as there is cricket to be played. I think it was a mature decision to move. I have seen incidents stretch too long and then there is disharmony. We are not trying to push anything further.”
The Bengaluru pitch might have received a ‘below-average’ rating from the match referee, but the contest that unfolded was enthralling as both teams fought neck to neck before India emerged victorious. One of the significant reasons behind the win was Ravichandran Ashwin’s six-wicket haul that triggered a fourth innings downfall for Australia.
Many labelled the performance as a reply to Nathan Lyon, who snapped eight wickets in the first innings. However, Kohli felt there were no such feelings and their focus was on winning the match.
“We don’t focus too much on the opposition. Ashwin did not reply to Nathan’s six wickets haul. He bowled well for Australia and got eight wickets. Ash did well in the second innings and deserved the six wickets.
“Honestly, we don’t look at any of these competitions before the series. I think player vs player contest is created to generate more excitement, which is fair. But, we as individuals focus on what we need to do session wise to win games for Team India. It is as plain and simple for us,” he concluded.