England bowled well but didn't outperform Indian spinners: Virat Kohli

Indian skipper spoke at length about the various prospects that came from the first Test at Rajkot. India managed to ensure a draw after having a brief scare in the middle. With Kohli standing firm with an unbeaten 49, India drew the Rajkot Test. Speaking at press conference, the India skipper defended his bowlers and also expressed his views on the English players. He also added that the pitch did not turn out the way he expected it to be.

Virat Kohli was positive about the way India managed to get a draw. He remarked that the side now has an idea of how to draw games. He added that the experience will surely help India in the future where they come across a similar situation. “Well, at least we know how to draw games now. Before that, some people obviously were sceptical about our side knowing how to draw games. We either won games or we lost games. This was the thing I spoke with (Ravindra) Jadeja out there as well, that it was an opportunity for both of us to improve on another aspect of the game,” quoted Kohli.

“Maybe in Test cricket in the future, we will have this situation again. Maybe we will have to apply ourselves again and show character, so have intent… to get runs in between but play percentage cricket, figure out areas where you want to take ones or hit boundaries but at the same time, be sure of your defence as well. So, it was a challenging situation but one that we countered really well, I thought,” he added further.

A lot of critics believed that India played the chasing game for most part of the match. The English players seemed to be dominating the major part of the Test. Kohli defended it saying that it all depends on the perspective. He mentioned that for his team, this was an opportunity to come out really good in tough situations.

Also read – India v England, 1st Test: England Player Ratings

“Depends on how you look at it. We looked at it as an opportunity for us to know how to play in these situations. The best learning is in the game. You can practice all you want in the nets but once you know how to make runs is when you understand how they are done. And, similar to situation, when you are put under pressure, if you bat out the innings, if you play a draw, then you understand as a team when you need to switch gears and trust your defence and slow the game down,” remarked the Indian Test skipper.

Skipper Kohli further expressed that he was surprised to see a lot of grass on the pitch. He further defended the five bowler theory. Having Ashwin and Wridhhiman Saha in good batting form helped his decision to go with five bowlers.

“I was quite surprised to see that much grass, to be honest. It should not have been the case. Secondly, I thought Ashwin was batting really well, he has scored a lot of runs for us this year, so has Saha. Those two are confident. Plus [it is] Jadeja’s home ground, so we backed him to get a few runs for us. That gave an opportunity to play [Amit] Mishra, an extra spinner. So at least, we had all our bases covered. With five batsmen, we ended up getting close to 500,” said Virat Kohli.

Indicating that the team might go with a similar combination in the next match, Kohli said that having an extra bowler always helps the case. “And even batted out the second innings as well. Again, it gives us belief as a batting unit. So, going ahead, we can still play an extra bowling option and keep putting pressure on the opposition. It was something you can look forward to or feel that you don’t have an extra batsman and go into a negative mindset. I think the guys applied themselves very well,” he added further.

Also read – India v England, 1st Test: India Player Ratings

Assessing the pitch, he cited that the ball did a bit during the last sessions. Apart from that the wicket played decently well enough for majority of the match. The wicket slowed down as the days progressed but it was a good wicket nonetheless.

“We saw from day three onwards, the last hour, the ball did quite a bit for the spinners. That stayed consistent on Days 3, 4 and 5. I don’t think it was similar throughout the day. The odd ball bounced in between and you had to pitch the ball in the right areas as spinners to get purchase from day three onwards. The first two days were really good to bat on. Day three onwards, it slowed down a little bit but no demons as such,” assessed the Indian captain.

Commenting whether English spinners were better than the Indian spinners, Kohli was direct in saying had that been the case, England would have won it. “I don’t think so. They bowled well but it’s not that they outperformed our spinners. It’s not that they took five-fors and totally turned around the game. They should have won the game if they outperformed our spinners,” defended Kohli.

Speaking about the knock by Alastair Cook, Virat Kohli pointed out that India let down a few chances early in the innings against him. “You have to consider the fact that we dropped quite a few catches on Day 1. You wouldn’t be asking me this question if we had taken our chances. Even in the second innings, a few balls falling here and there. Obviously if the batsman takes his chance and gets away with it and gets a 100, obviously things become very different. But at the same time, we bowled well to him, put the ball in the right areas. But credit to him, he fought it out,” pointed out the middle-order batsman.

Also read – Credit to England for applying in the second innings: Virat Kohli

He added further that Cook is a masterclass player and the Indian team can surely not take him for granted in the matches to come. However, it is important not to get that into your head as a bowler in Test matches. “He’s a quality player, we all know that. He has played over 100 Tests and scored over 10000 runs, so you don’t take a guy like that for granted. But we don’t focus on things that have happened in the past, we believe that we can get any batsman out on the surface we’re playing on. That’s the mindset we need to have in Test cricket. If you go on reputations and up against a guy who has scored a lot of runs before, then you’re obviously giving him the upper hand, which we never think as a Test side,” he quoted.

Virat Kohli was particularly impressed with the 19-year old Haseeb Hameed. He remarked that Hameed looked like a calm head in the middle. The way he handled the pressure and played in these conditions, it is always delightful to watch.

“He’s pretty good. Looks like a guy who has a good character, strong character. He has a lot of belief in his game, as we saw – taking on the spinners with the field up. Shows he has clarity of mind, as of now. But you know, you guys will put him under pressure when he starts performing and then doesn’t after a while. I’m sure he’s aware of it, but a good find for England I feel. Pretty exciting to see such a young guy come in to India and show character, good for him. I like the way he played and happy that he got whatever runs he got for himself,” praised Kohli.

Talking about the DRS, Kohli mentioned that as the captain it becomes very important to decide when to take it and when not to take it. “Those are very small margins and you have to trust the wicketkeeper and the bowler. But at times you need to understand, the bowler might push you to take it in desperation and you need to understand it as captain,” he conceded.