Virat Kohli : I was surprised to see English fans cheer after winning the toss

11/29/2016

Virat Kohli has said that losing the toss in the 3rd Test at Mohali had provided them with extra motivation to do well. Kohli also stressed on the fact that although winning the toss is advantageous, “you still have to go out and win the game”, and that losing the toss gave them extra motivation.

After winning the third Test at Mohali, India have opened up a 2-0 lead in the five-match series, and Kohli was quick to remind the journalists present at the post-match press conference that "none of the pitches have been turners."

Kohli has also expressed his surprise over the fact that the English fans began to cheer their win at the toss, and felt that losing the toss had provided them with extra motivation to do well. He said, "We have just played very good cricket. We are getting more and more confident. We lost the toss, bowled them out for 280. I was surprised to hear the cheer when they won the toss. You still have to go out and win the game. We got motivated by that actually.”

After bowling out England for 283 in the first innings, India were left tottering at 156/5 after debutant Karun Nair was run out for 4. However, Ravichandran Ashwin (72), Ravindra Jadeja (90), and Jayant Yadav (55) took India past 400 and established a huge first-innings lead. Kohli expressed his delight at the handy contributions with the bat from the lower order.

"The lower-order contribution is a proud achievement. That pushes the opposition back. Ashwin is a champion, No. 1 allrounder, Jadeja is in the top 10, and for Jayant to show the maturity in his first Tests. He asked me for the fields he wanted. He took their spinners on.

"For our quicks (Shami and Umesh) to hurry their batsmen is great too. Shami feels the injury was a blessing in disguise. He has become more hard-working. He has come back fitter and stronger. Very happy with the way the guys have stood up. Felt bad for Karun Nair the debutant but he is a good batsman. I am sure he is looking forward to his next Test," added the Indian captain.

English captain Alastair Cook felt that although it was a good toss to win, a team cannot win games by scoring 280 runs in the first innings. He said, "It was a good toss to win but if you get bowled out for 280 you won't win games. You need to get 400 on this pitch at least. We knew from the last time we beat them after getting them out for 300.”

When asked about the positives for England from this game, Cook said, "Stokes (Ben) is a brilliant player. He gives balance to the team. He is only going to get better and better. Haseeb (Hameed) showing character was positive. It has been a frustrating four days. Credit to India, they outplayed us. Unfortunately, Haseeb has to go home (due to injury). Showed a lot of character to come out and bat.”

Ravindra Jadeja, who picked up the Man of the Match award after picking up 4 wickets and scoring 90 runs in the first innings, was pleased with his contribution towards the team’s success. He said, "Obviously very happy with my performance. Especially with the bat.

"I knew the ball was not turning. I took my time. I knew if I play 40-50 balls, I could play a big innings. I knew I could easily score runs later on. I was just thinking I was not taking a chance against the offspinner. I took the risk against the legspinner. Unfortunately, the ball came off slowly, and I couldn't connect it.

"The next time I reach 90 I will be careful. The pitch wasn't turning pitch so I had to bowl tightly.”