Virat Kohli: People count my failures, I don't

Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli leaves the pitch after the fourth day of the first Test match between Sri Lanka and India at Galle International Cricket Stadium in Galle on July 29 2017 Virat Kohlis India thrashed Sri Lanka by 304 runs inside four days on July 28 to claim the first Test in their threematch series PicAFPPopular perceptions do not perturb him which is the reason why India skipper Virat Kohli does not believe in counting the number of innings in which he had a dry runKohli in his last Test series against Australia had an indifferent run but was back in his element in the first Test against Sri Lanka scoring his 17th Test hundred in only his 58th matchI wasnt looking at things from peoples point of viewI think people on the outside start counting the number of innings when a batsman doesnt score well But for us as batsmen or anyone playing in the eleven its about what the team wants in that particular situation said Kohli at the post match press conference after India thrashed Sri Lanka by 304 runs in the first Test hereI think the second innings required us to play a bit more positively and I am glad I was able to do that along with Abhinav Mukund It helped to get us enough time to get the opposition out and put enough runs on the board for us to feel comfortableI mean I certainly wasnt looking at how many innings I havent scored because when you are playing all formats you are not thinking which format you have not scored runs in how many innings You cannot utilise so much energy in that but it always feels good to score runs especially when the team wins Kohli who scored 103 not out addedKohli though felt that his team came up with a clinical performance he said there was still room for improvementYes we would like to think we ticked all the boxes with this win There are still some areas that we can look back and try to improve on Especially when you get 45 wickets we need to not let the lower order get away with a few runs in the latter half of the innings It is something that we can identify and work on in the next two games as wellAll in all playing Test cricket after February when we played last from then having played so much oneday cricket and not having the time to prepare so much in between I think it was good to get back in the groove and do the things that are supposed to be done to win a Test match said KohliFrom that point of view I would say that we had a pretty good game As I mentioned we always look for things that we can still improve on but very happy with the first gameKohli expressed pleasure that his team had become adept at the art of winning Test matches on flat tracksThe last time when we played here on this surface it offered much more to the bowlers It kept the bowlers in the game throughout both the quicks and the spinners more soThis time it was good to bat on even till today and if you applied yourselves well you could easily score runs on thisSo we had to work hard to get all the wickets that we did I think the bowlers came up with different plans and they persisted long enough to get those breakthroughs That is something that always helps at the beginning of the series if you get a victory like that on a surface that is not offering much explained the skipperKohli said his bowlers have become more confident in their own abilities because of the way they have performed consistently in the last two yearsPlus they know what they have to do on the pitch to get people out now which is the most important factor Especially in Test matches if you are not getting wickets then how to contain runs or how to create opportunities to get wicketsEven batsmen have become smarter now You dont need to necessarily tell someone how to bat or how to plan an inningsThey understand they prepare themselves really well so guys have become more professional in the last two years and they understand how Test matches are won That understanding of the game is something that has come a long way in the last three years he said