ENG vs IND | Will not ignore Virat Kohli but stick to our basics, says Craig Overton after Day 3 Leeds Test

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Craig Overton stated that England will stick to their basics while not ignoring the threat from Virat Kohli, who gets going in difficult situations. The Indian skipper is unbeaten on 45, his highest score in the series so far and have stitched a crucial 99-run partnership with Cheteshwar Pujara.

After a poor run in the series, Virat Kohli showed signs of getting back to form, which he lacked in his previous 4 innings of the 5-Test series and partenered for vital 99 runs with Cheteshwar Pujara on Friday. The Indian skipper remained unbeaten on 45 on Day 3 of the third Test, showing great resistance and judging the balls of his nemesis James Anderson very well this time around. Earlier, in the first innings, Virat Kohli fell to James Anderson for the seventh time in Test Cricket. It's been 50 innings without a hundred for the Indian skipper, the last time he scored a ton was against Bangladesh in 2019.

English pacer Craig Overton stated that the team will stick to their basics while bowling against the Indian skipper, who breeds under pressure situations.

"He (Kohli) is one of the characters who likes to get going. As a side, we were just trying to make sure that we do our business as well as we can, not ignore him but making sure that we stick to our basics of what we do well as a side," Overton said of their strategy against the Indian skipper.

After getting bundled out for 78 in the first innings and conceding a 354-run lead, Team India bounced back with brilliant batting performances in the second innings of the third Test at Headingley. India lost the wicket of Lord’s hero KL Rahul early but Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwar Pujara showed tremendous grit to build an 82-run stand for the second wicket. Rohit scored 59 runs, while Pujara ended the 9 short of his 19th Test hundred. The Indian skipper joined hands with Pujara after Rohit’s dismissal to take the innings forward without giving a chance to England and ended the day on 215 for the loss of two wickets. 

Overton reckoned that England are still in a good position to win the Leeds Test if the hosts receive early breakthroughs on Day 4.

"Ideally, we would have got three or four, you only need a couple more for the bowlers. We are still in a good position in the game at the moment," he said. It obviously was frustrating for us, but we got to make sure that we get early breakthroughs. The first hour's play would be massive."

The England seamer admitted that the Indian batsmen played really well to tackle the pressure situation to score runs against the home bowlers.

“We know it's going to be tricky. Credit to them they played really well. You always like to get a few more. I think we bowled better than what the two wickets suggest, but they also played well, that's what they're entitled to do so”, Craig Overton added.

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