Despite taking a 53-run first innings lead, India coped a humiliating 8-wicket defeat at the hands of Australia in the Test series opener at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday (December 19).
See Also: Tim Paine lauds Australian bowling attack after 8-wicket win in first Test
Reflecting on the loss, India skipper Virat Kohli said a lead of a few more runs in the first innings would have handed his side a boost.
At one stage on Day 2, Australia were reeling at 111/7 but the final three wickets managed to add 80 more runs to take the hosts closer to India's total.
“Yeah, very crucial. Australia was seven down for 110 (111) if I am not wrong when Tim Paine offered a chance and then he got 70 odd from there. Even Marnus Labuschagne was dropped a couple of times. In Test cricket, you need to take your chances when they come your way. They can be very costly and we realised very harshly today what the repercussions of not taking your chances can be,” Kohli said at the post-match press conference, as quoted by ANI.
"Teams will not offer you chances, again and again, you need to grab every opportunity that comes your way. That would have been a boosting factor for us if we had a lead of few more runs, a lead of above 100 and decent batting can make the opposition panic," he added.
The visitors were 9 for 1 in the second innings at stumps Day 2, stretching their lead to 62. But the Australian pacers, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, ran through the Indian batting line-up in the first session on Day 3 to change the course of the game.
Hazlewood (5 for 8) and Cummins (4 for 21) took all the wickets between them as India recorded their lowest ever Test score of 36/9 (with Mohammad Shami retired hurt) in the second innings.
Openers, Matthew Wade (33) and Joe Burns (51*), then ensured Australia overhauled the 90-run target quite comfortably.
"It is a strange one, the ball did not do much, we did not have enough intent of taking the game forward, yeah everything just happened so quickly that nobody could make any sense of it. It was disappointing for everyone. We have played enough cricket to understand what needs to be done at different stages, it is just lack of execution, day three is called the moving day, it was about driving home the advantage, we should have put in a better batting performance," Kohli stated.
"Australia bowled similar lengths in the first innings as well, we were just better in handling it better then. A bit of lead can always be tricky, as a batting unit, you can go into a headspace where you think we are just 50-60 ahead and we do not want to lose wickets. You always have to be positive, we lacked intent in the second innings. The way we batted allowed Australia to look more potent than they probably were. We batted way better in the first innings," he further remarked.
The second Test will be played at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground from December 26.
(With ANI inputs)
