India vs New Zealand: ‘Batsmen didn’t do enough for the bowlers’ - Virat Kohli reacts after series loss

India had 4 wickets in the bag when day 3 started, they were leading by 97 runs and there was still hope that the lower order would drag the lead to close to 200. However, on a surface which was assisting the seamers, the hosts took only 47 minutes to take the four remaining wickets. Then the openers added 103 runs for the first wicket and this helped them take the match by 7 wickets.

Speaking at the end of the match, the skipper said that his side was not able to execute the right plans and that, the batsmen failed to step up and get the runs.

“I think it was a matter of not having enough intent in the first game. We played well in the first innings here with the bat. It was a combination of us not having the right kind of execution and New Zealand playing well. Batsmen didn’t do enough for the bowlers to attack. It’s disappointing as a side when the batsmen don’t back up the effort of the bowlers,” he said.

“We need to go back, understand what went wrong and move forward. We are not a side that thinks about the result of the toss. We are not going to take excuses from this tour, just the learning. In the ODIs it was good to see the youngsters stepping up with Rohit not being available and me not getting runs. We need to accept we were not good enough, take it on the chin and move on,” he further added.

With this win, New Zealand pocketed all the 120 points which were on offer in the ICC World Test Championship points table. They now have 180 points and are placed at the third position. India, with 360 points, are still placed at the top of the points table.