WTC Final: Gutted Virat Kohli offers this reason for India’s defeat to New Zealand in World Test Championship

New Zealand under Kane Williamson grabbed their maiden ICC Trophy, winning the WTC Final and Kohli said India lost too many wickets on the sixth day morning (the reserve day) hurt their cause.

“A big congratulations to Kane and his team. They’ve shown great consistency and heart, and pull off a result in three days. They put us under pressure throughout the Test and did extremely well to win. It was difficult to get momentum on second day, and we did really well with the ball in the first innings.

“This morning (Day 6 morning) was the difference where their bowlers executed their plans to perfection and didn’t give us scoring opportunities. We were 30-40 short of giving them a good target,” said Kohli during the post-match presentation on Wednesday (June 23).

India had announced their playing 11 a day before the Test while New Zealand withheld it till the toss on Day 2, helping them to go with four pacers and Colin de Grandhomme as pace-bowling all-rounder, whereas India went in with three pacers and two spinners.

Kohli said he did not regret the call. “I don’t regret announcing my XI beforehand, because you need an all-rounder in the side but we made a unanimous decision that these are the best XI we can take into the park.”

Kohli also patted New Zealand pacer Kyle Jamieson, who is also his colleague at Royal Challengers Bangalore, and agreed that the World Test Championship has given Test cricket a context.

“Jamieson is coming up nicely in international cricket – good areas with the ball, and he can bat quite well too. He’s had a great game and he deserves the man of the match award. The WTC is great for the game and the more Test cricket is given importance, the better it will be for international cricket. It’s a great move by ICC. Test cricket is the heartbeat of the game.”

Kohli said the focus will now be shifted to the Test series against England starting late next month. “It’s a long summer ahead and we are really looking forward to the next series against England.”