Hard to motivate team after being out of contention for the final, says Virat Kohli

Virat Kohli

After a facile 8-wicket win over Afghanistan in Asia Cup, Indian captain Virat Kohli said that it was hard to motivate the team after being out of contention for the final.

“It was a complete performance. It was hard to motivate the team when you have been travelling and are out of contention for the final. Last night, we were hoping that Bangladesh wins but that did not happen. Being more relaxed worked for us, we were quite tense in the earlier games,” Kohli said on Wednesday.

When asked about the changes in the batting order, with Ajinkya Rahane opening the innings with Shikhar Dhawan, he said, “Someone like Ajinkya who has scored on and off, it is good to give them some confidence, even Dinesh Karthik was sent up the order. We have to be patient with them and the results will follow.”

Kohli said that Indian teams performance could have been different in Asia Cup if they haven’t missed chances in the crucial games. “We started off beautifully. We committed crucial mistakes against Pakistan and Sri Lanka and we lost the close games. Amit Mishra coming and bowling well against Pakistan, that was good to see. I am happy the way the team showed their character,” he said.

The Man of the match winner Ravindra Jadeja said that the Indian coach Duncan Fletcher asked them to take the game seriously even if they are playing against a much lower ranked side.

“Wicket was slow, I was trying to bowl slow, so that I could get some turn. You know that wicket is always going to be slow in Bangladesh. Before the game started, Duncan [Fletcher] told us this also counts an an ODI, so you guys be serious, we were focused on the game,” he said.