Bengaluru: Team India coach Anil Kumble on Thursday called on Virat Kohli & Co to leave behind the humiliating 333-run loss against Australia in Pune Test and focus on the Bengaluru Test beginning Saturday to get back to winning ways.
Australia bowled India out for paltry totals of 105 and 107 in the two innings of the first Test, with leg spinner Steve O’Keefe taking a total of 12 wickets as the visitors wrapped up a 333-run win inside three days.
O’ Keefe’s match figures of 12 wickets for 70 were in fact the best ever by a visiting spinner in India.
“I don’t want to look back. We are here to look ahead. And as a coach, it’s more important for me to look ahead,” Kumble said while addressing a press conference here at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
“We didn’t play really well on that surface, didn’t adapt to the conditions. Every game we need to adapt to what comes our way. And that’s exactly what we are looking forward,” he added.
The former leg-spinner also called on his troop not to worry about the Pune loss and look forward to use the second match as an opportunity to get back to winning ways.
“We don’t need to worry about the Pune loss. We are really looking forward to this game to get back to winning ways. It was a team failure and we cannot point fingers at anyone,” he said.
The 46-year-old also brushed aside talks of dropping middle-order batsman Ajinkya Rahane and recalling Karun Nair, who came to limelight after scoring a magnificent triple century against England during the five-match Test series.
“There’s no question of dropping Ajinkya Rahane. He has scored well and has extremely successful. We still haven’t discussed the team composition. It is unfortunate that Karun Nair has missed out after he scored that triple hundred. That’s how the team composition goes,” Kumble said.
“That’s the beauty about this group. Whoever has come in, has done really well. Unfortunate for Karun, he is a class act. And we have seen that in the short international career he had. Our aim is to win every game,” he added.
India are now 0-1 down in the four-match series and going into the second Test, they have a lot to think about, especially about their batting.
Team India are looking forward to getting back to winning ways, instead of dwelling on the 333-run loss in the Pune Test.
