Unbeaten run had to end at some point Kumble

Unbeaten run had to end at some point Kumble

Anil Kumble, the coach of the Indian team, brushed aside any concerns about the team after their crushing loss against the visiting Australian side in the opening Test in Pune. India were outplayed by an Australian team that had its plans well set on a rank turner in Pune, losing the game by 333 runs, after being bowled out for 105 and 107 in their two innings.

Speaking to the press two days before the second Test in Bangalore, Kumble spoke about how the team was aware that their record unbeaten run in Tests had to come to an end at some point.

"You can't keep winning every game," Kumble pointed out on Thursday (March 2). "It has to come to an end at some point of time. But as I said, 20 games in [the] current scenario of Test cricket. It's quite challenging for any international side to go out there and [keep] winning. And that's what this team has been able to do. Across conditions, be it Sri Lanka, India, West Indies. And against quality sides, we've won from difficult situations. We have adapted to various conditions and also various situations."

Kumble also noted that the team lost in Pune because of their failure to adapt to the conditions that were present.

"That's what we didn't do in the last game. That's why the result didn't go our way. That's why we are looking forward to this game to again start on a winning note," he added.

Naturally, much of the questions during the conference centered around the pitch and how the Indian team coped on the track. Kumble said that he would not be looking back at the Test and instead look at moving on from that.

"I don't want to look back," he said. "We're here to look ahead. As a coach, it's more important for me to look ahead. I mean... yes it was one of those games where things didn't go our way. And you just need to move on. We have another three Test matches in the series we are really looking forward to that. We've had a fantastic home season. It's just one of those games where things didn't go our way. And more importantly, for me as a coach, it's important to move ahead and look ahead. That's exactly what we've been doing as a team. What has happened is done and dusted, we can't really worry too much about that.

"Australia played well, we didn't play really well on that surface. It was challenging but we didn't adapt. Every game we need to adapt to whatever comes your way... that's exactly what we're looking to do."

When the questions were unrelenting, Kumble got irked and even cut a question midway to say 'Can we move on? It's only 22 yards, it won't be different here'.

"These kind of questions were never asked in the last 9 Test matches that I attended the press conferences. So I don't see a reason for me to answer the question at this point in time, because of one failure. I don't think that's something we need to worry about. Like I said, we didn't adapt well and we lost. We need to adapt really well on this surface, these conditions and what comes our way as a group. It's a team failure and you can't point fingers at anyone."

Kumble also added that all 16 players in the side were available for selection for the second Test. He said that the team will look to not worry too much about the opposition and instead focus on playing to their potential as they aim to level the series.

"Australia are a quality side," he noted. "All the other touring sides were quality sides too. I don't think we played to our potential. And that's what we'd like to do. We'd like to come back into this Test match and play to our potential and not really worry about [the opposition]. I think I did mention in the previous presser or probably against Bangladesh, someone asked me about the opposition... we only look at what we need to tick. If we keep ticking those boxes, results go our way. And that's what we'd like to do here.

"We didn't tick those boxes in the last game, and we didn't win. So we need to tick all those boxes - be it partnerships as a batting unit, partnerships as a bowling unit or taking those catches - all those things are important to win Test matches. That's what we'll focus on."