Kohli will miss the last three tests to attend the birth of her first child in India and leaves behind a team sore from her beating indoors three days after being shot 36 times, India’s lowest entry in Adelaide.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Shami retired injured after a painful blow to his bowling arm from a Pat Cummins goalie.
“He was in a lot of pain, he could barely lift his arm,” Kohli said at the presentation ceremony, adding that the team was awaiting the results of Shami’s scan.
Kohli’s departure also takes away India’s hitting pillar as they try to stay afloat in the four-round series with Ajinkya Rahane.
“I definitely would have loved it if we had won this game, to go away with victory would have been great,” Kohli said at a virtual press conference on Saturday.
“Having said that, this is Test Cricket. Anything can happen at any stage and I’m pretty sure the team will come back strong in Melbourne.
Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins shared nine second-inning windows with each other to beat India with a fiery show of bowling in the day-night event.
Kohli pointed to India’s first-inning score of 244 and tried to allay any fears his teammates might have about Australia’s formidable attacking pace, which also includes Mitchell Starc.
“The way we hit, it allowed them to look more powerful than they probably were in the morning to be very honest because they threw similar lengths on the first day as well,” said the 32-year-old.
“We hit a lot better in the first inning than in the second, obviously.”
Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane are scheduled to host the next three games.
.
