‘Does it look like we’re under pressure’

Cricket365
March 3, 2017

India skipper Virat Kohli has laughed off the suggestion by his opposite number Steve Smith that he and his team will be under pressure in the second Test against Australia in Bangalore.

Kohli dismissed comments made by Smith during his pre-match press conference as being ‘mind games’ while insisting that his team are happy and relaxed.

Smith said ahead of the second Test: “I think they will feel under a little bit of pressure.

“Obviously, going into this series, all I heard was 4-0 to them. So they’re one down and need to come back. We’re one win away from [retaining] the Border-Gavaskar trophy. Things can happen pretty quickly here.

“So we might be one or two sessions away from getting that back. I’m sure they’ll feel under a bit of pressure.”

Kohli was having none of that though and laughed off the suggestion: “Me? As a team? Does it look like [we’re under pressure]?

“I’m pretty relaxed. I’m happy. I’m smiling. It’s fine, those are his views and [he can say] whatever he wants to say. I think it’s time we focus on our skills more than what Australia is saying or preparing like. I know these minds games in these press conferences are something they’re very good at.

“We’re still going to play the cricket that we’ve played for the last two years and see where the series ends after the fourth game.”

Kohli’s men have had to deal with a week where they have been bombarded with criticism but the skipper has refused to single out any individual players.

The captain feels that the team need to be at their best to knock over Australia in Bangalore.

Kohli added: “The whole team has to play well against Australia to win a Test match, that’s something we’ve identified.”

The skipper unsurprisingly insisted that his team will need to do a better job of hanging onto their catches: “We’re not focusing on one player at all.

“If we don’t hold onto our chances it doesn’t matter, at the end of the day, how many runs we score. We’re not focusing on one player only. The whole ten wickets have to be taken twice to win a Test match. The comments and headlines don’t matter. They never have, and we won’t base our cricket on it.”