Virat Kohli lauds lower-order, bowlers after historic Test win at Lords

India recorded a massive victory over England at the iconic Lords cricket ground on Monday. The match was the second of the five-match Test series that is being played between the two countries. England seemed set to win the match at one point. But some masterful batting from the Indian tail-enders and an outstanding bowling display saw Virat Kohli and co. snatch a historic victory. It will certainly give some much-needed confidence in the dressing room. Not least fter the heartbreaking loss against New Zealand in the final of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) not long ago. Kohli was ecstatic after the win. He said that he was extremely proud of the team. He was also pleased they believed that they could get England all out in 60 overs of the match.

“Super proud of the whole team, the way we stuck to our plans in this Test match after being put in. Our performance with the bat was outstanding. The pitch didn’t offer much (to the bowlers) in the first three days to be honest. I think the first day was most challenging (for the batters), after that it was quite difficult for the bowlers to gain anything from the track but I think the way we played in the second innings, after being put under pressure this morning, Jasprit and Shami, was absolutely outstanding,” Kohli said after the match concluded.

Tail-enders believe they can get runs: Virat Kohli

He also added that the team believed they could win the match with 60 overs left.

“We thought 60 overs to go, we could have a crack at the result, and we had the belief that we could get them out in those 60 overs. I think the bowlers were just outstanding and what happened in our second innings, right at the end with the bowlers, a bit of tension on the field (and needle between the teams) really helped us and really motivated us to finish this game,” he added.

A big reason why India managed to win the match was the batting heroics of tail-enders Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah.

Shami scored a brilliant half-century while Bumrah got 34 runs on the board. The partnership allowed Kohli to have a chance of declaring the second Indian innings after they got to a good score.

The skipper was full of praise for the lower-order batters after the game.

“When we were our most successful in Test cricket for a year and a half, our lower order was contributing big time and that’s something that we went away from a little bit when we play away from home.

“So that was one of our focuses, the batting coach has really worked hard with the boys and they are putting in the hard work.

“Most importantly when they walk out to bat, they believe that they can stay there and give some runs for the team.

“I think that belief was missing (before); we were practising but now they have that desire in them to do the job for the team and we know how priceless those runs are and that proved to be the case even today as well,” Kohli said.