Kohli disappointed with quality of balls

Virat Kohli has expressed his displeasure with the quality of the balls used in the third Test after Australia hung on to a draw here on the final day on Monday.

“Wicket didn’t disappoint us,” said Kohli after India failed to force a win which looked very much on the cards after the first session. “Obviously, the way the wicket is expected to break on days three, four and five, it happened but I think the hardness of the ball was a very big factor. Yesterday evening (during Australia’s second innings) when the ball was hard, it was turning a lot faster, even this morning it was doing so but in the second session it was not so hard, so to generate pace off the wicket becomes difficult for a bowler. When you get to the fifth day, as it is the pace becomes slower,” reasoned the Indian skipper.

The SG balls, which are used in India, were changed frequently during the course of the match as they lost their shape pretty fast. “We tried with the second new ball (in the final session), got a couple of wickets but in the middle session, the hardness of the ball was a factor. But I don’t want to take any credit away from their (Australia’s) effort. They batted very well,” he said.