'Quite bizarre': Virat Kohli reacts after uninspiring performance against New Zealand

India suffered its second consecutive defeat in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup as New Zealand beat the Virat Kohli-led side by 8 wickets with 33 balls remaining. After winning the toss, Kane Williamson opted to field first and the decision proved to be a boon as his bowlers managed to restrict India for 110/7. India failed to defend the low total on the board as the side succumbed to its second loss in the Super 12 stage. Skipper Virat Kohli, in his post-match interview, said 

"Quite bizarre I mean. I thought we were to be very honest very brutal upfront. I don't think we were brave enough with the bat or ball. I mean with the ball obviously we didn't have much to play with, but we were not just brave enough in our body language when we entered the field and New Zealand had better intensity, better body language and they created pressure on us from the first over onwards and continued that through the innings and every time we felt like we wanted to take a chance, we lost a wicket. That happens in T20 cricket but that's most often a result of that little bit of hesitation with the bat when you feel like should you go for a shot or not," Kohli said after the match. 

"When you play for the Indian cricket team, you obviously have lot of expectations, everyone knows that not only from the fans, but from the players themselves. Wherever we play, we are watched. People come to the stadium to support us, so there's always gonna be more with our games. that's always been the case and we have embraced it over the years and everyone who plays for the Indian team obviously has to embrace that as well and learn how to cope with it and when you cope with that as team you are able to overcome that pressure and those tough situations and we haven't in these two games and that's why we haven't won," Kohli added. 

"There's always planning going into games. But a fantastic all-round performance from us against a formidable India side. We were able to build pressure throughout and the way the openers came out really set the platform for the chase. The balance of our attack has two spinners in it, I think the collective unit was impressive, the way they kept passing the baton. We saw some very good signs in our first match as well and we built on that. Look you play against such strong teams all the time, for us it's about playing our game. Ish is an outstanding T20 bowler, white-ball bowler in particular. He's been a big part and played in a number of comps, and in these conditions spin will play a part," Williamson said. 

India vs New Zealand

Coming to the match, India's batting meltdown continued as New Zealand reduced the Men in Blue to a low total of 110/7 in 20 overs. India's opening batsmen, Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul, scored just 22 runs between them. Trent Boult bowled Kishan for 4 runs, while Tim Southee dismissed Rahul for 18 runs. Rohit Sharma came in and struck 14 from 14 balls before gifting a catch to Martin Guptill off Ish Sodhi's bowling.

Sodhi dismissed Virat Kohli for 9 runs off 17 balls in his next over. Rishabh Pant was clean bowled for 12 off 19 balls by Adam Milne, who took his first wicket in the match. Boult took two more wickets in the same over, dismissing Hardik Pandya and Shardul Thakur for 23 and 0 runs, respectively. Ravindra Jadeja hit 26 runs off 19 balls near the end of the innings, but it wasn't enough to help India achieve a defendable total.

In reply, New Zealand chased down the target with ease courtesy of some brilliant batting by Daryl Mitchell, who scored 49 off 35 balls. India picked just 2 wickets in the game when Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Martin Guptill for 20 off 17 balls and then removed Mitchell. However, Kiwi skipper Kane Williamson played an anchor's inning to ensure his team finishes on the winning side. Williamson scored 33 off 31 balls. Ish Sodhi has been adjudged the player of the match for picking 2/17 in 4 overs. 

Image: T20WorldCup/ICC