After India slumped to a two-match Test series whitewash at the hands of New Zealand, skipper Virat Kohli on Monday admitted that his side needs to go back to the drawing board and correct things going forward.
The visitors suffered a crushing seven-wicket defeat against the Kane Williamson-led side in the second and final Test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch to slump to their first series defeat in the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship.
Speaking in a post-match presentation after the defeat, Kohli expressed his disappointment over the loss and admitted that India would look to learn from their mistakes and rectify things in order to clinch matches away from home.
"Disappointing, have to go back to the drawing board and correct things going forward. Toss, you could think about it being a factor, but we don't complain. It did give extra advantage to the bowlers in each Test but as an international side, you're expected to understand that. We accept it upfront and if we have to win away from home, we have to do that. No excuses, just learning moving forward. In Tests, we weren't able to play the cricket we wanted to," ESPNcricinfo quoted the 31-year-old Indian skipper as saying.
Kohli further said that the defeat was the result of their failure to execute well enough and New Zealand's efforts to stick to their plans. He, however, lauded the Indian bowlers for being more competitive yet again than the batsmen.
"It was a matter of not having enough intent in the first game, and not closing out here. We didn't bowl in the right areas for long enough. They created a lot of pressure. It was a combination of us not executing well enough and New Zealand sticking to their plans. The batsmen didn't do enough for the bowlers to try and attack. The bowling was good, I thought even in Wellington we bowled well. Sometimes if you bowl well and things don't happen, you have to take it in your stride," he added.
Resuming the third day at the score of 90 for six in their second innings, India lost their remaining four wickets inside 34 overs to get eventually bundle out for 124 runs.
Cheteshwar Puajar was the highest scorer for India with 24 runs as the visitors set a meagre target of 132 runs for New Zealand.
Trent Boult was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts with four wickets, followed by Tim Southee who bagged three wickets while conceding just 34 runs. Colin de Grandhomme and Neil Wagner also chipped in with a wicket each.
In reply, Tom Latham (52) and Tom Blundell (55) not only brought up a half-century each but also stitched a crucial 103-run partnership for the opening wicket to bring New Zealand closer to win before Ross Taylor (5) and Henry Nicholls (5) helped their side cross the mark in 36 overs.
Earlier, Indian bowlers came out all guns blazing to bowl out New Zealand for 235 runs in their first innings. The Virat Kohli-led side posted 242 runs in their first innings.
