WTC Final: “This isn’t just a team. It’s a family” - Virat Kohli shares message after loss to Kiwis

Team India captain Virat Kohli has shared an emotional message on social media following the side’s painful loss to New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC) final in Southampton on Wednesday.

India’s barren run in ICC events continued as they failed to stand up to an inspired New Zealand side, and went down by eight wickets despite two full days in the Test being lost to rain. Under Virat Kohli, India had earlier stumbled in the 2017 Champions Trophy final against Pakistan and the 2019 World Cup semi-final against the Black Caps.

Even as the dust is yet to settle on another disappointing show from India in a major ICC encounter, on Thursday Virat Kohli took to his official social media handles to share a message of solidarity with a picture of Team India in a huddle. The Indian captain wrote:

“This isn’t just a team. It’s a family. We move ahead. TOGETHER.”

Apart from India’s failure to win ICC events, Virat Kohli’s lack of big scores in these crunch games has come under the scanner again. The 32-year-old was dismissed for 44 and 13 in the WTC final. He was sent back by Kyle Jamieson, his teammate at Royal Challengers Bangalore, both times. Virat Kohli had managed only 5 runs in the 2017 Champions Trophy and was lbw for 1 in the 2019 World Cup semi-final.

Virat Kohli calls for best-of-three finals to decide WTC winner

While conceding that New Zealand were the better of the two teams in Southampton, Virat Kohli opined that having a proper series would be a fairer manner to decide who is the best Test team in the world. Earlier, Indian coach Ravi Shastri had also shared similar views.

At a virtual press conference following India’s defeat in the WTC final, Virat Kohli opined:

"I am not in absolute agreement of deciding the best Test side in the world over the course of one game. If it is a Test series, it has to be a test of character over three Tests - which team has the ability to come back in the series or totally blow away the other team. It can't just be pressure applied over two days of good cricket and then you suddenly you are not a good Test side anymore. I don't believe in it.”

A round of applause to #TeamIndia for their incredible journey to the #WTC21 Final. 👏 👏Congratulations to New Zealand for winning the World Test Championship. 👍👍Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/CmrtWscFua pic.twitter.com/iveB9RTUDa

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 23, 2021

Team India will now take a short break from the bio-bubble and regather ahead of the five-match Test series against England, which will start on August 4 in Nottingham.