Team India suffered a 227-run defeat at the hands of England in the first Test in Chennai on Tuesday (February 9).
See Also: Joe Root hails his bowlers for taking 20 Indian wickets in alien conditions
With this loss, the hosts didn’t only concede a 1-0 lead in the fourth-Test series but also slipped to the fourth spot in World Test Championship (WTC) standings.
However, India skipper Virat Kohli remains unperturbed by it as he wants to focus on the things which the home team can control like playing good cricket in the upcoming games.
Notably, ICC had revised the point-rating system of WTC due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year. The points table now shows the team’s rankings based on the percentage of points earned from the series played.
"We will look at the upcoming games in the same way as we have looked up till now. Nothing changes for us, If suddenly the rules can change when you are in lockdown nothing is in your control at all. The only thing which is in your control is what you do on the field," Kohli said during the virtual press conference, as quoted by ANI.
"So you are not bothered about the table or the things which are going outside. For somethings, there is no logic for something you can have a debate for hours as much as you want. The only thing you can control as the side is playing good cricket and that's our only focus regardless of who is on top of the table," he added.
The victory at Chepauk saw England moving to the first spot in the WTC table with 70.2 percentage points. If the Joe Root-led side manages to beat India 3-1, 3-0 or 4-0 then they can qualify for the inaugural WTC final, slated to be held at Lord’s from June 18-22.
Meanwhile, India can’t afford another loss in the four-Test series if they are to feature in the summit clash against New Zealand at the Home of Cricket.
Kohli further reiterated that his team is focused on playing good cricket in the remaining three games and not paying attention to the WTC standings right now.
"Before this Test match you were not even thinking of England's chances and suddenly you are talking about they are on top of the table. These things keep changing all the time. Our focus is only playing good cricket," he said.
It is worth mentioning here that Australia can also feature in the WTC final if the India-England series is drawn or England secure 1-0, 2-1, or 2-0 series win.
(Inputs from ANI)
