SYDNEY: He "hates" defeats but Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli today said he was not too disappointed by the Test series loss to Australia as his team put up a tough fight, displaying "intent and character" all through.
The Indians lost 0-2 after drawing the last two matches and Kohli, who was personally in sublime form -- scoring 692 runs --, said the visiting side considers it a satisfying result.
"The series could have gone either way. Even today we thought we had a chance (to win), but Australia kept coming back. We have given a tough fight to the Australians in the entire series. We had a fantastic series," Kohli said after the final day's play of the drawn fourth Test at the SCG here.
"From the very first day, we had wanted to play hard cricket, give a fight, and that is what the boys have done. I think we showed a mix of intent and patience. Eventually, it was a satisfying result but crossing the line would have been better," he added.
Chasing a target of 349 today, Kohli said he was not sure about going for the target till the tea break but eventually decided that the team should give it a chase after his own dismissal.
"At tea time, I was not 100 per cent sure if we wanted to go for the target. After he got out, I thought why not take a chance, we are not coming back here for a while, If it does not happen it does not. The intent and character the side is showing is important," the 26-year-old Indian captain said.
"These guys have stepped up and shown they have the character and game at the international level," he added.
Kohli, who scored four hundreds and one fifty in the series, said his there were lot of positives for his side even though it needs to have more consistency with both the bat and ball.
"There are lot of positives to take but in patches. We need to be consistent with both the bat and ball. We need to be more consistent in bowling. I have told bowlers what they need to focus on because we need to know where we lack.
"It is exciting time for Indian cricket ahead. (Lokesh) Rahul was impressive especially after the kind of debut he had. It is tough in Australia, I have experienced that before. (Murali) Vijay has done a great job at the top of order and the same goes for (Ajinkya) Rahane," said Kohli.
Giving credit to the Australians for recovering from the trauma of Philip Hughes' death in a freak incident and winning the series, Kohli said, "The way they have composed themselves after the (Phillip Hughes) incident and come out is commendable."