Virat Kohli says England's bravery was key to series victory over India
Sunday 2 September 2018 19:07, UK
Virat Kohli praised England's bravery after the hosts sealed a series victory over India with a 60-run win at The Ageas Bowl.
The difference between the two sides in Southampton proved to be the runs scored by No 6, No 7 and No 8 with the hosts' trio - which included a mixture of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Moeen Ali and Sam Curran across the first and second innings - adding 281 runs in the match.
In contrast, just 48 runs were scored by Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Ravichandran Ashwin and India captain Kohli believes the fearless natures of Joe Root's side's lower-order batsmen was the reason for their victory.
"It is quite handy to have guys who can strike the ball well at six, seven and eight because you have nothing to lose," Kohli said. "Once you get a partnership going it can be frustrating for the opposition.
"No team likes to see players getting runs lower down but they [England] have guys who are fearless and back their skills. They were braver in tough situations, more confident in tough situations, and that's why they won.
"I would like to congratulate Sam Curran, he has been a nice find for England and he is doing really well for them."
England survived for just 4.2 overs on the morning of the fourth day but enjoyed a perfect start to the final innings as they reduced India to 23-3.
Despite feeling that the match was evenly poised at the start of the fourth innings, Kohli admitted his players were unable to cope with the pressure their opponents' bowlers put on them.
And the 29-year-old revealed he could feel the passion from all of the England players as they saw their side over the line in the early evening sunshine.
"You felt the passion of 11 players on the field wanting to win a Test match for their country and that's what you want to see from every team," Kohli added.
"Me and Jinks (Ajinkya Rahane) had the similar passion and it was getting really competitive and we enjoyed that partnership out there.
"Seeing how the pitch was and how the ball was spinning, the [English] batsmen applied themselves really well and set a total that was challenging for us.
"We thought we were in with a 50/50 chance, but we didn't get the start that we wanted and England were relentless with the ball. They applied pressure throughout and they got the results that they wanted.
"I don't think we made too many mistakes today, they bowled really well and applied too much pressure on the batsman to get the results we desired."
India head into the final Test at The Oval with plenty still to play for, despite England having taken an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
And, although his side have fallen to three defeats, Kohli does not feel the visitors have been outclassed for much of the summer.
"I don't think we have been outplayed anywhere apart from Lord's," he said. "Joe [Root] said it might not look like it, but it's been a very competitive series and it has been enjoyable to play in."
Live Test Cricket
