Bullish Kohli 'super proud' on Lord's triumph, promises more intensity going ahead in series

India did not have too many things going in their favour before the start of the second Test at Lord’s. They did not have the luxury of playing the “template” skipper Virat Kohli had shown high confidence after the first Test and they had to take the toughest possible call of choosing one among Ishant Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin. 

Finally, they went in with Ishant albeit it elongated the tail and increased pressure on an out of form middle order to take responsibility. The outside issues were compounded when Joe Root won the toss and asked them to bat first at an overcast Lord’s.

The hosts would have hoped to get the better of the Indian batting order on the first day itself and take the game from thereon. 

However, by the end of the game, all those brittle components of the Indian side were back to functioning to their near-best and trounced England on the final day. Openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma batted admirably and provided a masterclass to England top order on the technique and mindset required to bat out tough phase of the game. 

The pacers toiled hard on the second and third day to not give an inch to the hosts and then the middle comparing of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane put their hands up to set up an exciting final day. The game went good to best for the visitors as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami kept England at bay in the first session before coming hard with the ball against their batsmen to earn a spirited win at the Home of Cricket.

They were also attacked verbally by the hosts in reply to Bumrah’s bouncer tactics to James Anderson but the Virat Kohli-led side, like always, did not hold back and answered all calls with a bit of word and more of fire with the ball.

Looking back on the win, Kohli was “super proud” of his teammates after they worked hard in each department of the game every day to take the side to a famous victory. He specifically commenced the duo of Shami and Bumrah for putting the best of their batting abilities while batting under pressure on the final day. He was not forgetful of the verbal duels with England players and said that those instances eventually fuelled the fire in his teammates to go for a win on the final day.

"Super proud of the whole team, the way we stuck to our plans, being put in our performance with the bat was outstanding. Pitch didn't offer much on first three days. But the way we played in the second innings, under pressure, from Jasprit and Shami was outstanding. We thought with 60 overs to go we could have a crack, and they were outstanding. A bit of tension on the field really motivated us to finish the game,” Kohli said to Mel Jones in the post-match presentation ceremony.

As Bumrah and Shami walked off the middle at the lunch interval on the final day after putting India in the driving seat of the game, whole squad members and support staff were waiting in the Lord’s long room to welcome them with a resounding reception. 

Kohli said that the gesture was made to make them realise how special their contribution was to the team’s fortunes and also to fire them up a bit. Kohli credited the first two wickets taken by Bumrah and Shami to that intensity they were going through while batting against the England bowlers. He said that the bowlers heard the calls from the team management about the importance of runs lower down the order and their hard work with the batting coach Vikram Rathour are paying dividends now.

“Wanted to let them know that we appreciated what they did, and they took the new ball and made breakthroughs for us. When we were most successful, our lower order was contributing, we went away from that a bit away from home but they are putting in the hard work with the coaches. The belief and the desire are there, to do the job for the team,” Kohli added.

It wasn’t Kohli’s first win at Lord’s as he was part of the playing XI under MS Dhoni that had defeated England in 2014 on the back of a seven-wicket haul in the second innings by Ishant and a sublime century from Ajinkya Rahane. He rated the win as “quite special” as they have had the time for only a maximum of 60 overs to dismiss England for the second time in the game.

India batted for some four overs after the lunch interval before declaring their second innings. There were enough runs on the board, but Kohli suggested that it was the number of overs remaining that determined the timing of declaration and not the runs on the board.

“Have been a part of the winning Test last time under MS. That was pretty special. But this one, to get a result in 60 overs is quite special. And especially with someone like Siraj playing for the first time at Lord's and he bowled superbly. We decided 60 is our mark. Crucial breakthroughs with the new ball was the right start for us,” Kohli added.

Kohli has not had great success using the DRS but he used it to great effect on two occasions on the final day. On one occasion, he challenged Michael Gough, who was having a pretty much perfect game. He challenged the not-out call given by Gough for Bairstow off the bowling of Ishant while the second call was taken against Richard Illingworth against the not out call for Robinson off the bowling of Bumrah. He got both of those calls perfect and India were ecstatic to see the back of them at different times of the day and game.

Kohli said that he follows his instinct while calling for reviews and is always ready to cope the blame in case they go wrong. However, he said that going for reviews can eliminate wrong decisions and one will get to know only if they call for the system to work for them. 

“That one was gut feel but I like to go with my instinct. I am ready to cope with the blame when it goes wrong, but if you don't take a chance you never know,” Kohli asserted.

Kohli was in the face of England batsmen since Bumrah was verbally targeted by England players and he has made his intentions pretty clear that India will not be short of bringing more intensity and fire onto the ground going forward in the series.