Former Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh used just one word i.e., “Wow” to describe the performance of the Indian skipper Virat Kohli at Edgbaston in the first Test against England. When all other batsman failed miserably to read the line and length from English bowlers, Kohli held his head high and rescued his team from a tricky situation in the first innings.
In reply to England’s 287, India was in trouble at 100/5 when Virat joined hands with Hardik Pandya and the tail to keep the deficit at just 13 runs. Talking to BCCI.TV about Kohli’s batting, Harbhajan hailed the right-hander’s intent and the way he had crafted his innings.
Bhajji said, ”For me, Virat Kohli is a guy who is the person whenever the team needs him. I remember when he came to Sri Lanka, none of the Indian stalwart players was able to pick Ajanta Mendis. But, Virat Kohli is keen to get into the middle and prove a point. He scored a fifty and the same kind of hunger he showed in Birmingham. The kind of inning Virat played, wow. I have never seen that kind of an intent. It is the best. I have no words to describe him. The only thing to do is bow down.”
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Indian bowlers scalped all 20 wickets in this match and praising their performance, the off-spinner praised the efforts. Harbhajan appreciated the way Ashwin bowled as bagged seven wickets in the match. Apart from Ashwin, fast bowler Ishant Sharma too had a successful outing in this match after he returned with a fifer in the second innings.
Singh elaborated, “Bowlers have done a great job. Especially, Ravi Ashwin, he has been phenomenal and brilliant. The way he created a lot of revolutions is great to see. Of course, apart from him, Mohammed Shami has been brilliant in the first inning and good to see him on the field. He has gone through a lot and I wish him all the good luck.”
WATCH: @harbhajan_singh was all praise for the bowling attack that took 20 wickets in the first Test. Also, he had some special words of praise for captain @imVkohli – by @RajalArora #TeamIndia #ENGvIND
Full Video here—> https://t.co/9M1cWQahny pic.twitter.com/NB0XsritM8— BCCI (@BCCI) August 4, 2018
He concluded, ”In the second inning, Ishant was all over the place. He was terrific. As a senior bowler, he responded well when the team needed him the most. Very well and I am proud of these guys. This team has it all to win the series in England and I am sure boys will respond really well. Keeping my fingers crossed for a tricky chase.”
India ended the third day’s play at 110/5 with Kohli and Dinesh Karthik remaining unbeaten at stumps.
