Indian skipper Virat Kohli is not happy with his team’s batting display during the Headingley Test against England, which India lost by an innings and 76 runs. England have levelled the series at 1-1 after this win with two Tests to be played.
Team India was 215/2 overnight while Virat Kohli (45) and Cheteshwar Pujara (91) were batting in the middle and had 139 more runs to wipe away. India lost their last eight wickets for 63 runs in 16 overs and lost the game before the lunch break.
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“It’s down to scoreboard pressure. We knew we were up against it when we were out for 80 and the opposition put up a big score. We put up crucial partnerships and saw the day through, but the pressure from the English bowlers was brilliant this morning and we didn’t respond well,” Kohli said after the match.
“Batting collapses can happen in this country, the pitch was good to bat on, but their discipline with the ball forced us to make a few mistakes, and it was difficult to deal with spells where we weren’t getting runs. We didn’t make good decisions as a batting side.”
Ollie Robinson bowled a sensational spell on day four and added another four wickets to his name. He dismissed Rohit Sharma yesterday. Thus, he completed his fifer in the second innings.
“The pitch looked good to bat on, and when England batted it hadn’t changed much, so they had a lot more intent with the bat, made better decisions. They were the deserving side to win to be honest,” he added.
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“You could say that we don’t have enough batting depth, but the top order has to give enough runs to the lower middle order to step up. The lower order can’t bail the team out all the time.”
Kohli has admitted there are no positives to take from this game apart from the two sessions of day three that India batted well.
“We don’t have much other than the batting in the second innings to take from this game in terms of positives. Playing another spinner would depend on the pitch and we’ll take a call later. It depends on the moisture and how it will hold up for the five days,” Kohli mentioned.
The fourth Test will begin on September 2 at The Oval in London with series tied 1-1.
