Virat Kohli blames India batsmen for lack of execution, shot selection after 8-wicket mauling in 1st T20I

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Ahmedabad, March 12: After getting pummeled by England by eight wickets in the opening T20I at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday (March 12), India captain Virat Kohli held the batsmen responsible for the huge defeat in the five-match series.

Indian batsmen failed to read the conditions well and allowed the English bowlers to make early inroads from which the hosts never recovered after being invited to bat first.

Blaming the lack of execution from the Indian batsmen, Kohli said during the post-match presentation, "We just weren't aware enough of what to do on that kind of pitch. Lack of execution of some of the shots and something we have to address as batsmen. It wasn't an ideal day in the park. You have to accept your faults and come back in the next game with much more intent and clarity of plan. The wicket probably did not allow you to hit the kind of shots you wanted to."

Praising Shreyas Iyer for his valiant knock of 67 off 48 deliveries, Kohli - who was dismissed for a duck by leg-spinner Adil Rashid - said Indian batters should have learnt from Mumbai batsman on how to make use of the depth of the pitch and make use of the bounce.

"Shreyas' innings was an example of how you can use the depth of the crease and ride the bounce. It was a below-par batting performance and England made us pay.

"We looked to try a few things but as a batting side, you have to accept the conditions in front of you, if the pitch allows you to play such kind of shots, then yes. We did not give ourselves enough time to assess the conditions, Shreyas did that but there were too many wickets down to get past 150-160," Kohli added further.

England's bowlers produced an outstanding performance from the start of the game and laid the platform for an emphatic win in the series opener. Pacer Jofra Archer was the pick of the bowlers for England with figures of 4-1-23-3 to produce his best T20I figures.

The Indians, as a result, were restricted to 124-7 in the stipulated 20 overs and the below-par total meant the English batsmen overhaul the target quite comfortably.

India - who are ranked second in T20I rankings - will face the top-ranked English side on this pitch on Sunday (March 14) in the second T20I and would be looking to bounce back.