We are not invincible, says Kohli ahead of 'virtual quarters'

June 9, 2017

London, Jun 9: India captain Virat Kohli has lauded Sri Lanka's gutsy batting performance and said that his team was not "invincible" despite setting up a big target of 322, which he personally thought was enough to win the match.

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"I personally thought that we had enough on the board at the halfway stage. And I think our bowlers also bowled decently well. If the Lankan batsmen come out and play like that and everyone plays well, you have to give credit to the opposition as well. We are not invincible. We are playing against other sides who are also champion sides (in their own rights)," Kohli said at the post-match media conference here last night.

Kohli said that rather than criticising his colleagues, he would like to compliment the kind of batsmanship displayed by Sri Lanka yesterday.

"If a side comes out there and plays cricket with that kind of mindset and executes their shots so well, then you have to take your hat off sometimes and say 'very well played'.?/p>

Defending champions India are now in a do-or-die situation and will now have to beat South Africa in the virtual quarter-final to progress to the last four round.

"Yes, it's become very exciting. Virtually every game is a quarter-final now. In our group especially, all teams are on two points, and you have to win your next game to go through, which is, I think, an exciting position to be in for all teams," Kohli said.

"And for everyone involved in the tournament and the fans as well, I think, it's a great scenario where you literally have two quarter-finals now which is going to be even more competitive cricket. So we are pretty clear about the whole situation, and, it certainly has opened up the whole table for sure," the Indian skipper added.

Kohli said the "bowling collapse" last night would make him push harder for 20 runs extra when they take on South Africa at the same ground on Sunday.

"From the batting point of view, as I said, I thought we paced it well. I thought we had enough on the board. In hindsight, when you look back, maybe you think of phases that we could have accelerated, but I don't see that as a major issue.

"May be, we will have to push harder now in the next few games to give us a 20-run cushion after a result like this. This is because we are playing on the same ground (Oval) as well (in the next match)," he said.

One could sense helplessness in his voice when he said that it was one such day when none of his plans worked.

"Sometimes you literally can't do anything in the game. You try to find ways to get people out, but it doesn't happen. If you have a couple of guys with off days in between, you can't go in with eight bowling options. You literally have five or six with a part-timer. In any case, you play two spinners, or you play four seamers," Kohli said sarcastically.

"If two guys (Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja) aren't able to execute their lines, it does become difficult. Me and Kedar (Jadhav) chipped in with our overs and we pulled back the game at that stage. But then, again, everyone came out and played positive cricket from their team," a disappointed India captain added.

Asked as to how he will lift the morale of his team after the demoralising defeat, Kohli said he would treat it just like he would have treated a batting collapse.

"It is like a batting collapse. When you collapse as a batting unit, you don't sit down and think of your life is over. You just move on and say it's a bad day. Forget about it. That's what. In a Test match, you have a lot to think about because the game goes on for five days," he said.

"But I think in shorter format, you have to forget it and move on. As for people's perception -- we can't sit here and think of what people perceive us to be or what people had expected of us as a team."

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News Network
March 27,2024

IPLbettingsuicide.jpg

Bengaluru: Darshan Babu is an engineer who is fond of betting on cricket matches and has been placing major bets on Indian Premier League (IPL) games since 2021. He often borrows money after losing a bet, or to place one when he is short on funds. His 23-year-old wife, tired of the constant harassment by creditors, died by suicide.

Ranjitha was found hanging at her home in Karnataka's Chitradurga on March 18. According to the family, Darshan had racked up a debt of over Rs 1 crore.

He worked as an assistant engineer in the Minor Irrigation Department at Hosadurga and had been ensnared in the realm of IPL betting from 2021 to 2023. This took a major toll on the couple's finances. Allegedly, he had borrowed over Rs 1.5 crore to place bets after his luck ran out and he lost all his money. While he managed to return Rs 1 crore, cops say that he still has a pending loan of ₹ 84 lakh.

Ranjitha married Darshan in 2020. She realised the truth about Darshan's involvement in betting in 2021, claims her father Venkatesh.

In his complaint, Venkatesh said that his daughter was extremely distressed due to the constant harassment by moneylenders and this led to her suicide. He has also named 13 men who had allegedly lent the money.

He said that his son-in-law was lured into betting with a promise of quick money.

"He (Darshan) was not willing to get into betting, but the suspects forced him saying it was an easy way to get rich. They promised to finance his betting activities against some blank cheques as security," he said.

Cops during their investigation found a suicide note, where she detailed the harassment they faced. Darshan and Ranjitha have a two-year-old son.

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