Dravid bats for an out-of-form Kohli

Dismissing criticism against Virat Kohli for his early dismissal in the World Cup semi-final against Australia, former Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid said barring the one blip, the star batsman has been sensational Down Under.

"We have short memory. He did play his absolute best at the Test matches. In fact, he was sensational," Dravid said on the sidelines of an event here.

"I cannot think of an Indian batsman who had come to Australia and played as well as Virat Kohli in the Test matches. We did see his absolute best. Unfortunately we didn't see it the other night (semi-final match). But that's part and parcel of the sports," he added.

On India's losing the semi-finals against Australia in Sydney, Dravid said he was not very disappointed by the defeat.

Dravid said the two teams which played the finals were the best teams to have reached there.

"Realistically, India didn't beat Australia at all during these four months at any Test matches and tri-series and New Zealand did play some fantastic cricket at home," he elaborated.

"I think the two best teams made to finals," Dravid said adding, "India did as well as they could and it was quite difficult to get to the semi-finals."

"They were a young team and with these kind of conditions, it was going to be difficult to get over the Australian hurdle," he said.

Image: Virat Kohli

Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images