After being knocked out of World Cup 2019, the Indian captain said in the post-match press conference that he has no idea about Dhoni’s retirement plans. Kohli also talked about Jadeja’s innings; Pant’s shot, team’s mental state after the defeat and structure of the World Cup.
India lost to New Zealand in the semi-final, which means they are coming home now. This was Dhoni’s last world cup and many believed that Dhoni would retire once the World Cup is over. Although Dhoni has already cleared that he isn’t retiring soon from International cricket but this question kept arising.
When asked if Dhoni is retiring
“No, he hasn’t told us anything as of now.”
On Jadeja’s batting
“In my watching Jadeja for ten years, this according to me, was his best knock because of the amount of pressure and the stage we were at. We were almost out of the tournament, and then he produces that. He was motivated.”
On the team’s mental state after the defeat
“I don’t think I’d like to break things down immediately, but in time we’ll have to sit down and analyze where we went wrong and the things that we could have done right, particularly in this game.”
On Pant’s reckless shot
“He’s still young. I made many errors when I was young in my career, and he will learn. He will look back and think yes, he could have chosen a different option in that situation, and he realizes that already.”
On tournament’s structure
The defeat was India’s second of the competition – England only beat them in the league stage, Kohli was asked whether the structure of the World Cup should be squeezed.
“Who knows in the future maybe, If topping the table means anything then I think these things can come into consideration, looking at the magnitude of the tournament it’s a valid point, I guess.”
On Knockout games
“The challenge and the different kind of the fun of these games are that you have to be precise. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done before that. It’s a new day, a fresh start and if you’re not good enough, you go home.”
India has lost back to back 4 ICC knock out games in the last 4 years.
