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#INDvAUS: Aussie journo grills Kohli on DRS controversy, Indian captain remains defiant

Another explosive press conference by Virat Kohli.

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Indian captain Virat Kohli attends a press conference ahead of their third Test match against Australia, at the Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) Stadium complex in Ranchi on March 15, 2017
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After some strong words that he used against Australia at the end of the second Test in Bengaluru last week in which he was just short of calling Steve Smith’s men to cheating, India Test captain looked pretty relaxed here on Wednesday, the eve of the third Test.

While he stands by what he said, he was more relaxed on the job at hand, which is to focus on the game and not the external factors, and look to winning the remaining two Tests of this series that stands at 1-1.

In his pre-match interaction with the media, Kohli was asked five questions about the DRS controversy in Bengaluru and what he said, while five others were cricket-related with there being a small chat between him and one Australian scribe on the subject. This is how the brief chat went:

Aussie journalist: Is it appropriate for international captain to make serious allegations and not provide evidence to substantiate that:

Kohli: What were the allegations?

Aussie journalist: That Australia weren’t using the DRS the right way, two other occasions...

Kohli: But, what were the allegations called?

Aussie journalist: Doesn’t matter what the allegation is called…

Kohli: But it does because it has to be called something for me to be questioning something about someone to call it an allegation. If no charges were pressed against me, how are those allegations?

Aussie journalist: You said two instances when you were batting, Australia used the DRS wrongly. Stand by that?

Kohli: As I said, we need to move on and focus on the game tomorrow (Thursday). We have got two more Test matches to go. There are two sides of the coin. I could be speaking about another (thing) again and things are just not going to move forward. Everyone sitting here has his own interest and chooses to ask what he wants to. But our focus remains on the game and we need to look forward.

Preceding this and succeeding this little one-on-one, Kohli kept a relaxed face, not getting agitated at by the same point being discussed in different ways. He felt that a lot has been given into the incident and that it was time to focus on the remainder of the series.

When asked if he regretted what he said in the aftermath of his rival number Smith accepting that it was a mistake on his part to look dressing roomwards for DRS, Kohli said: “See, a lot has been given into the incident, I feel. It’s time we focus on the remainder of the series. That is what I honestly feel because there is a lot of cricket to be played and it shouldn’t happen in bad taste. What has happened in Bengaluru has happened in Bengaluru.

"We are in Ranchi and we should look forward to tomorrow. Both teams have moved ahead from Bengaluru and I think the focus should get back on to the series because the priority here is cricket. All the other things happen in the background. We understand that as cricketers and, as I said, what has happened has happened in the past and we need to look forward.”

Even the two cricket boards got together and issued a joint statement to forget the past and move forward. But Kohli was firm with what he said and not regret. “I think about what I say. I don’t regret anything that I have said.

'But at the same time, it is very important not to be stupid and go on about the same thing on a daily basis because there is cricket to be played. There was a decent break in between and we certainly don’t want to sit and think about one issue all the time. We have cricket to play, we have two Test matches to play and that’s what we need to focus on," said Kohli.

“I think it was a mature decision on everyone’s part to move on from that. We have seen instances in the past stretch too long and it just causes disharmony and there is no outcome of it, honestly. I wouldn’t say that we are trying to push anything any further but we just need to focus on the two games that are left. I think it is good for everybody that everyone moves on because you will always have two sides of the coin.

"One side will say one thing, the other side will say another and that just takes the focus away from the game that we all are sitting here because of. I think it’s in the best interests of everyone that we move on and focus on the game.”

Kohli said that the enormous attention on his does not take the charm away from the series or the game. “It doesn’t matter to me, honestly because I don’t start a series saying ‘focus on more’, ‘speak about me or write about me’. It’s not in my control. What’s in my control is what happens on the field. If people choose to write about me or speak about me, that’s their choice. I won’t sit here telling someone to speak or write about me unless they want to, or it interests them.

"Whether it is criticism or praise, it’s all happened in the past as well. Honestly, these things are totally detached from me. It doesn’t matter who writes what about me or they praise me or they criticise me. It is fine for me. It’s their job, they are doing their job and I am doing mine, as simple as that.”

Asked how he and the team moved on after so much has happened in the last week or so, Kohli said: “You move on when you get attached to it. If you don't get attached to it, you don't move on. It is not the first time in my life that people have spoken about me, certainly not the last time. I would have done a few things right in my career to be given the opportunity to captain the side. As long as you are honest to yourself, work hard on a daily basis, you are answerable to no one.

"Everyone has their own opinions. I am not going to challenge anyone's opinions. At the same time, if someone chooses to challenge my opinion, it is up to to him. I am not going to hold a banner and say 'don’t speak ill about me'. It is a part of the journey. No one plays 15-16 years of international cricket without being criticised. It’s fine. As I said, everyone's job, everyone is making the most of their job and my job is to play on the field.”

Kohli also spoke on other subjects:

On how he or the team viewed individual contests in the wider picture of the India vs Australia series: 

“I mentioned this before, we don’t focus too much on the opposition. Honestly, Ravichandran Ashwin didn’t look at his six-wicket haul in Bengaluru as a reply to Nathan’s eight-wicket haul. He (Lyon) bowled well for Australia, he got eight wickets, he deserved to get them. And Ashwin bowled well in the second innings and he deserved to get six wickets. It’s as plain and simple for us as that. Honestly, we don’t look at any of these competitions, it’s not before the series ‘who versus who’. I think these are contests that are created to get more excitement on the series, which is fair. But us as individuals, we just focus on what we need to do in certain sessions to win games for Team India and that remains our priority. We don’t get too much into looking at the other guy, how many runs they have scored or how many wickets they have got so far. Just takes the focus away from what you need to. That’s not a good mindset to be in and we certainly don’t think like that.”
 
On batting collapses this series and if pitches were that bad…

“I wouldn’t say so much on the pitches. Australia batted really well in Pune, we didn’t bat so well. Again in Bangalore second innings, we batted better than them. I think even on a flat wicket, if you are under pressure, you tend to have collapses. We have seen it so many times in the past, on perfectly normal wickets, sides have bundled out for 60-70 from pressure from the opposition. I think Test cricket is more mental than looking at all the external factors. And teams who are mentally strong – on that sort of a wicket, as I mentioned before, Pujara and Ajinkya’s partnership was outstanding because it wasn’t easy to bat. But at the same time, they showed their mental strength and what they can do as individuals. I think it takes a special effort like that to provide the difference in the game. But I think most of the batting collapses are more mental than skill coming into fault. That’s what I make of it, it wasn’t much to do with the pitches because the other team obviously batted better on both those occasions, so it is more a mental set up I think.”
 
On how helpful was the break between second and third Test…

“Obviously, when you win, you enjoy the break. When the result don’t go your way, you think about it could have been shorter and all those sort of things. It is very important to take all off days just normally, if you are part of a series or not. It is important to treat every day as a normal day. Coming towards the end of the season, a couple of more days off after a good result obviously feels nice for the guys to recover and recoup. It has been a very long season for us and last two games to go, which we want to finish on a positive note. The break was timely for us as a side because we played for so long. We played non-stop. Am sure everyone enjoyed the break and am sure the focus is back on this match and the next match.”

On the adjustments made by KL Rahul, Pujara and Rahane in the second innings in Bengaluru…

Thank you for asking about cricket, finally. Individually, I think, the adjustments that guys make in their techniques. I saw Pujara opening up his stance which was an apt adjustment for him to give himself more space to play the ball. Ajinkya, again, getting inside the line of the ball and not playing through the covers. I think those are the small adjustments. KL is batting well anyway but I think those two guys stepped up their game and found a way to score runs on a difficult wicket. And as I mentioned, that was the difference between winning a game and probably not winning it because there could have been only two results, the draw wasn’t there on the cards anyway. Such minor things can make massive differences in the game. We saw that and credit to those two guys to get runs on that sort of wicket.”

On how one reads the pitch and how one gets it right…

“I have not come across a cricketer who can see the pitch and predict correctly as to what happens on that particular wicket. I don’t think anyone can predict how much the ball will turn, or how much the ball will seam. Lots of things matter in the behaviour of a pitch, the conditions matter a lot as to how a pitch reacts every day. Weather plays a big part. If it’s too hot or humid, reverse swing comes into play and if the weather is good you won’t get much reverse. There are a lot of external factors, including weather, that influence how the ball behaves. That’s why they say cricket is a complicated sport to understand. You wouldn’t know what happens when. You always have to be aware to react to particular situation. As a team we prepare for that. Whatever the situations we come up against, we respond accordingly. But I don’t think anyone can pinpoint that the pitch will behave this way or the other.”

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