We haven't seen pitches like that here before, says Virat Kohli
Virat Kohli has revealed that he was surprised by the slow nature of the pitch stating that the Indian players have not encountered such a pitch in England before. He stated that the Indian Test squad is pretty settled and the team is looking to take on the challenge of upcoming Test series.
England won the all-important decider against India to win the ODI series 2-1, which was also the first victory for the host in limited-overs cricket over India since 2011. Batting first, Virat Kohli scored an impactful 71 before England resorted to some disciplined bowling effort to restrict India to a modest 256/8.
After Rohit Sharma could make just two runs from 18 balls, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli held the mast for India till the 18th over. However, once they sent back to the pavilion, the likes of Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina
"I thought we were never on the mark as far as runs were concerned, we were 25 runs less, England were clinical with
David Willey (3/40) and Adil Rashid (3/49) took three wickets apiece on their Yorkshire home ground to put England in the driving seat. Rashid's haul included two wickets for two runs in six balls as he dismissed both Kohli and Suresh Raina in the 31st over, while Dhoni made 42 off 66 balls. Kohli later stated that English bowlers suffocated Indian batsmen for runs in the middle overs which paved way for Indian collapse. He also revealed that Indians players were shocked by the nature of the wicket, which was way too fast.Â
“Played slow, quite surprising, a little two-paced, we haven't seen pitches like that here before. They suffocated us in the middle overs, the spinners bowled well in partnership,”Â
India made three changes to the team and included Dinesh Karthik, Shardul Thakur and Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the third ODI. Karthik, who was batting well in his short stay at the crease, scored 21 runs off 22 while Thakur got 1 wicket for 51 runs. Kumar went wicket-less and was hammered for 49 runs in 7 overs. Kohli stated that the team was looking for the best possible balance and they need to improve as a whole unit. Â
“Not the batting order, we thought Dinesh was going well, with the bowling we felt Bhuvi has the experience and was good to come back in, but it didn't come off. When it doesn't come off, changes look unnecessary. We need to move on and improve as a side. Every side is looking for the best balance possible, these losses will tell us what we need to work on. We've got 15-16 games to get the balance of the side strong,”
Next in the long India tour of England would be a five-match Test series, which has been scheduled to start on August 1. And Kohli said that the team has been looking forward to the challenge and would go from strength to strength against England.Â
“The squad is pretty settled, excited to be going into a lengthy Test series, going to be challenging but we're looking forward it. Want to play hard, tough cricket, looking forward to the challenge,” he added.
