India vs New Zealand | First Innings Really Put Us Behind in the Game: Virat Kohli

It was one of those rare matches for Team India where nothing seemed to go their way, right from the toss on day one of the Wellington Test against New Zealand. The result was that, India lost by 10 wickets, early on the fourth morning of the encounter.

While the batting collapsed under pressure, the bowlers failed to clear up the tail of the opposition, that hurt them bad later in the second innings, as Indians conceded a big lead of 183. India skipper Virat Kohli recognised the problem, and what ailed the team in the match.

"Day one, the toss did turn out to be very important. But at the same time, we take a lot of pride in being competitive as a batting unit and we were just not competitive enough. I don't think we put their bowlers under enough pressure. Anything over 220-230 and we would have been talking a different language.

"Even the deficit looks lot lesser if you get that score and take those last three wickets cheaply," Kohli said at the post-match presentation.

On day three, India were in a strong position as they managed to bag seven wickets, with the Kiwis only 50-odd runs ahead. But then a partnership between Colin de Grandhomme and Kyle Jamieson changed the complexion of the match. Also a 38-run cameo from Trent Boult made matters worse for India.

"The first innings really put us behind in the game and the lead put us under pressure. As a bowling group, we have been pretty competitive in bowling good channels for long periods of time. Till about 7 wickets, we were pretty good. The wicket did get better. The last 3 wickets and those 120 runs hurt us and pushed us out of the game.

"Overall, we did put in a good effort but can still be more disciplined. It doesn't need to be pointed to them as the bowlers have recognized themselves. That can happen at the international level. You don't have to be too hard on the guys."

While speaking about the struggling batting line up, Kohli said, "Prithvi has played only two games away from home.

"He is a natural strokemaker and would figure out things to get the runs going. Mayank was outstanding in both the innings. Him and Jinks were the only two batters who got some tempo. We just need to stick our template as a batting unit."