Watch FIFA World Cup 2026™

LIVE, FREE and EXCLUSIVE

Loss proves India not invincible: Kohli

All four teams in Group B have everything to play for in their final Champions Trophy group games after defending champions India were stunned by Sri Lanka.

Virat Kohli
India captain Virat Kohli says his team are not invincible. (AAP)

India captain Virat Kohli says his team are not invincible after the defending champions allowed Sri Lanka to chase down a target of 322 to win a pulsating Champions Trophy match at The Oval.

India, inspired by Shikhar Dhawan's superb 125, racked up a healthy total of 6-321 but Sri Lanka knocked off the runs with eight balls left to leave Group B wide open.

All four teams in the section have two points going into the last round of games in which India play top-ranked South Africa on Sunday and Sri Lanka meet Pakistan on Monday.

"I think Sri Lanka played really well," Kohli told a news conference following his team's seven-wicket loss.

"The other teams are also champions and that needs to be kept in mind. We are not invincible."

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

India had beaten Sri Lanka in 14 of their last 17 one-day internationals, including the last five.

India's bowlers struggled to contain the Sri Lankan batsmen, however, as Danushka Gunathilaka and Kusal Mendis shared a second-wicket partnership of 159 before captain Angelo Mathews steered his team home with a composed unbeaten 52.

"We all felt we had enough on the board at the halfway mark," Kohli said.

"We trusted our bowlers, but they (Sri Lanka) were pretty good on the day. Kept their momentum going and executed their shots really well. Our bowlers bowled decently, but they batted really well."

Kohli blamed poor execution as India's bowlers took only one wicket, the other two Sri Lankan wickets coming from run-outs as they achieved the highest successful run chase in the tournament's history.

"There is always hindsight when you don't win games. As I said we bowled decently well, but the execution wasn't quite there," added Kohli, who was out for a duck to complete a bad day for one of the world's leading batsmen.

"Obviously, there is food for thought but you have got to give credit to other teams as well. You don't take any team lightly. It's going to be like this throughout the tournament and we don't expect anything less."


2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world