Virat Kohli was understandably a disappointed captain after team India lost to England in the opening Test at Chennai. The Indian captain was a lone warrior with the bat on day 5 as he scored 72 runs whenever no other batsmen could get going a challenging last day wicket. This is now India’s first loss at home since the Pune Test match against Australia.
Now the Indian side will have to pull their socks and win the series if they want to qualify for the ICC world Test championship final. In the post-match presentation, Virat Kohli felt England won a crucial toss and made full use of the batting-friendly conditions on the opening 2 days of the Test.
England was far more consistent and professional- Virat Kohli
Kohli also believes that the bowling attack could have put a little more pressure on the England batsmen early on in the Test match. He then credited England for posting a mammoth first innings total after which India was always behind in the Test match. The Indian want captain wants his side to improve on things which could have been better in the Test and come back stronger in the next one.
“I don’t think we put enough pressure on them with the ball in the first half. Collectively as a bowling unit, fast bowlers and Ash, were good in the first innings but we also needed to contain a few more runs and create pressure. Having said that, it was a slow wicket and not helping the bowlers which made it easy for the batsmen to rotate strike and get into the game. Just looked like not much happening in it on the first two days. But credit to England, they got stuck in and put up a big total on the board”, Virat Kohli said.
“Our body language and intensity was not up to the mark, second innings we were much better. We were better in the second half of the first innings with the bat, not the first four batters. We have to understand the things that we have done decently in this game and the things that we haven’t and as a side we are always looking to improve. England were far more professional and consistent throughout the Test match than we were”, he added.
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Meanwhile, the England bowlers were outstanding on the final day as they dismissed India for only 192. James Anderson turned the match when he picked the wickets of Shubman Gill and Ajinkya Rahane in the same over. The England captain Joe Root was awarded the player of the match for his outstanding double century in his memorable 100th Test.
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