Virat Kohli backs Ajinkya Rahane despite New Zealand Test draw

India's Test and ODI skipper Virat Kohli has backed vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane who led the team in his absence in first Test in Kanpur where New Zealand pulled off a sensational draw to deny India from taking a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

However, Kohli also gave credit to the resilience Kiwis showed as Aijaz Patel and Rachin Ravindra blocked out 52 deliveries during the last-wicket stand to forge a draw. 

Kohli in a virtual media interaction said: "Obviously, everyone has a different way of approaching things. I probably would have been able to answer that if I was in that situation but I was not, so I know that the team tried everything that they could.

"Rahane has always brought up great ideas to make sure that, you know, we put the opposition under pressure with strategy, with field placings and rotating the bowlers as well. A great example of that was in Australia as well when we played there.

"Sometimes when you are not able to pull off a result you also have to give credit to the opposition for batting out 10-12 overs in the end with the last wicket. It was a very good effort from them," he added.

"So, we have to be realistic about the scenario, realistic about the situation. Obviously, you look to improve on things you still can and you find ways of winning and that's been the essence of our team regardless of who's been in charge. 

"I think that has become the culture of this team and we'll continue to look to find opportunities to put our team in a winning position whenever we can and sometimes it doesn’t happen and you have to accept that," concluded Kohli.

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