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| "We are a team that is focused on playing good cricket and win session and situation, or if we are in trouble come back out of those tough situations," Virat Kohli. © BCCI |
India secured their second win against England in the five-match Test series in Mohali on Tuesday (November 29). The spin trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Jayant Yadav were the major contributors in the victory, scoring fifty-plus and picking four wickets apiece.
However, Virat Kohli had special words of praise for his fast bowlers - Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav - for providing vital breakthroughs throughout the series.
Excerpts:
On having a strong bowling unit...It obviously boosts your confidence up a notch. With quality bowlers in your reserves as well, as captain I think you can ask your bowlers to push in every game that they play. We still have Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar sitting and waiting for their chance to play. Both quality bowlers. Even in spin, Amit Mishra hasn't played, so the good thing is that whoever is playing they are standing up and making their presence felt. That as a captain is very pleasing, especially in a game like this where you lose the toss and get the opposition out for 280 on a flat wicket, really gives you confidence as a bowling unit that you are on top and you are dictating terms. As a captain it is an added advantage.
If Shami is a better bowler since coming back from injury?Yes, he's stronger, because he had to train that extra bit because it was a knee injury and one leg was weaker than the other, obviously because he couldn't do anything with it. He came back, trained really hard, really precise with his training and he is rushing in much more now and he is able to sustain that energy now for four-five good overs and he's bowling long spells. He's become more aware of what he wants to do and what he has to do to be a good Test bowler and he is making those important breakthroughs. If you see throughout these three games, he's someone who has really rushed in and even Umesh for that matter, they both have bowled over 145 kph consistently and on these kind of pitches, to not lose heart and keep coming in and running in and bouncing guys, I think speaks a lot of their character and I'm only waiting to play on pitches that assist them a little bit and it'll be nice to see what they can do there as well. So credit to both of them, they have really put their hand up, and as I mentioned earlier, they are pretty happy with their roles. They are not getting desperate for too many wickets. They come in, chip in and they let the others do their job as well.
Two Test wins have come on good wickets? What does this say about team?I think it's exactly been 12 months about us playing on unfair pitches and the question has turned itself. So we don't need to say much about the pitches. We are a team that is focussed on playing good cricket and win sessions and situations. Or, if we are in trouble, come back out of those tough situations. It was a perfectly good wicket for cricket and if you talk about the pace bowlers as well, they rushed in and put in the effort and they got the results as well. It was a wicket where if you persisted long enough, you get the results that you want. And I felt that we did that pretty well to get the result our way. Even when we played in Kolkata earlier this year, we showed that we are not a side that wants square turners. We have enough skill to play good cricket and win against any team and that's the kind of belief we have created in the change room and that can only happen when you are not worried about what's happening outside that door. You focus on your skills and strengths and move along.
On Haseeb Hameed:
Well, I wish him a speedy recovery. He's showed great character for a 19-year old, to be honest, at this level. He put his hand up when his team wanted him to do it and the way he played a little bit with [James] Anderson in the end as well... showed great maturity to play with the tail like that. He knew exactly what he wanted to do and you can sense it as a captain that this guy is intelligent, this guy knows the game and it's a natural process. The guys coming in will obviously be more smarter and they'll understand the game much better, they get matured pretty early. I think he's a great prospect for England and he's definitely going to be a future star in all forms if he keeps persisting with his skill. Really impressed and that's why I patted him on the back. It was an innings full of character and something that you need to applaud.
Parthiv Patel as a back-up opener?That's actually a good headache, to be honest. You never know, there are all kinds of possibilities. The way he approached both innings, it was amazing to see. That's where experience from the first-class level comes into play. He's someone who's played [for India] at a very early age and he's come back and the intent he showed in both innings, I think, just deflated the opposition. Credit to him to go out there and counter-attack and take on their seamers. I think he really stood out in this game for me as a batsman. As a keeper as well, he did well. You never know. We'll see what happens in the next few days. We'll take a call accordingly.
On niggles...All niggles have been addressed. [KL] Rahul, [Wriddhiman] Saha and Hardik [Pandya]. All the others are fit and fine. Ashwin is fine, it is just an exaggeration while taking a run on that particular day. So all fit and fine.
On rivalry with Ben Stokes...I'm surprised out of all the cricket questions, you picked this. He's a competitive player and so am I. I wouldn't like to explain or elaborate what happened on the field. It's better left to officials to know what happened. These things have only motivated me in the past and continued to do so. So I don't mind it.
On losing the toss and winning while batting second:It was... I think the first two days of the game is exactly what the team wants to do as a Test team. When you are put in trouble after losing the toss on a good wicket, the bowlers stand. Then on Day 2, you are 156 for 5 and then your lower-order steps up. So those two days, including the third day were very pleasing for me as a captain. Our confidence went up really high even in the second innings when we came out with the ball. It sort of carries through. It's something that we've learnt from in the past and the guys have shown the improvement. It shows that are keen to improve on the mistakes that can happen.
On the lower order contribution...As a side, when you get 5 or 6 wickets you think that the game is going to get over early and the batsmen go into that zone and suddenly you have to field for 50 more overs. You are confused whether to think about the game or focus on batting or focus on the field. All sorts of things start happening. We have experienced in the past as well when other teams have done it against us and we haven't found a way to stop it. So it is great to see our guys stepping up and making it count. Every game, on an average, we are scoring 80-85 runs. This game was 200 plus. Amazing to see guys working hard on their batting, 70-80 runs put a dent on the opposition mindset and when they come out to bat they know they've given 60 runs more. It makes a massive difference especially in Test cricket to stretch the game longer for a session or session and a half and then come out with the confidence in the field as well. With the ball also it helps them. Obviously, they have admitted themselves. You see, Ashwin is the No 1 all-rounder, he scores lots of runs and comes out more confident with the ball. Credit to them and for executing those plans.