Kohli baffled by India criticism

Virat Kohli has expressed his frustration over the “completely bizarre” criticism India players continue to come in for despite their Test series victory over South Africa.

South Africa had not lost a Test series overseas for nine years before slumping to a 3-0 defeat against India in the recent four-match series.

Much was made of the pitches favouring India’s spinners and captain Kohli thinks more should have been made of the exploits of his side against the top-ranked Test team.

He told the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) website: “It is a pity. The series happened in our country and our own people are looking for weaknesses and areas of criticism, and not speaking enough about the kind of good cricket we played. They have been talking about the pitches and how that has been a factor.

“In this series, four of the top five run-getters were Indians. Top two wicket-takers were Indians. We have had no excuses, we played honest cricket and we got the results in our favour. We are proud of what we have done and how we have played.”

Kohli added: “It obviously hurts when people who have played the game themselves make such comments. I am not saying all of them do it. Some of them understand the mindset of the players, having gone through similar situations in their careers. They lend you support, say the right thing and even help you with certain technicalities.

“But some people like to focus on the negatives. It feels bad as an Indian cricketer. Growing up, you have looked up to these people, and when you hear such comments from them you lose a bit of respect for them. It would be more respectful of them to come up and speak to a player individually if they feel there is some flaw that needs to be corrected.

“This has been a pattern over the years in India – players are criticised unnecessarily. When you lose, it’s fine, but here, even when we are winning, they find new ways to criticise the team. It is completely bizarre.”