Indian Test skipper Virat Kohli has considered brilliant performance by fast bowlers and Jayant Yadav's debut as the biggest positives in his side's massive 246-run win over England in the second Test at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here on Monday.
Chasing a target of 405 runs to win, the Alastair Cook-led side went down like a pack of cards and were eventually bundled out for 158 after battling hard for 97.3 overs.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Yadav took three wickets each while Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammad Shami took two-two wickets each.
Labelling Jayant's contribution as 'priceless', Kohli said the all-rounder's performance speaks volumes of his character and shows that he exactly knows how his game works.
"The biggest positives are how the fast bowlers bowled and Jayant's debut. It's always priceless those contributions and it speaks volumes of his character. I'm really happy for him. For a young guy to come in and tell me the field he wants, it shows he knows what he is doing. I knew the batsmen uncomfortable. It was lovely to have five bowlers who can pick up wickets. We've been playing some really good cricket. We don't want to be complacent but don't want to be desperate, either. We respect England," the swashbuckling batsman said in the post match presentation.
Kohli, who scored 161 and 81 in both the innings, was adjudged Man of the Match. With this victory, India go 1-0 up in the five-match series. The first Test had ended in a pale draw in Rajkot.
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Reflecting on his innings, Kohli said, "It's been a lucky ground for me and it remains a special ground, similar feel I get to Adelaide. You want to play exciting cricket because so many people come to watch. They help you through tough situations. We wanted to make sure we batted five sessions, get 450+ which is what we did then the bowlers were always on top. The scoreboard pressure really counts. There wasn't much happening in the wicket, but the batsmen succumbed. I knew I was striking the ball well.
Meanwhile, Cook, who was the only batman to cross the half-century mark during the second innings, expressed his disappointment after losing the match with a huge margin.
"It wasn't a great moment to fight so hard, so was disappointing to get out at the end. I think we saw the first day was easiest to bat then you can see it became harder. It was a good toss to win, no doubt. From losing those five wickets on Day Two - you have to score first-innings runs - but from that moment we showed a lot of character and fight," Cook said
He, however, believes his side had made India work very hard. The England skipper also called on his side to bounce back in order to keep the series hopes alive.
"We made India work very hard. We played some good cricket at stages in these first two games. We need to win a couple of games to get ourselves back in the series," he insisted
The two teams will now head to Mohali where the visitors would like to come up with a better show and level the series.
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