New Delhi: Indian skipper Virat Kohli showered praise on bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami for their “outstanding” partnership which helped India win the second Test against England at Lord’s by 151 runs following a dismal batting collapse by the hosts.
India’s tail-end of Shami and Bumrah frustrated England with an 89-run stand before away captain Virat Kohli declared after lunch on 298-8.
“Super proud of the whole team. The way we stuck to our plans. Pitch didn’t offer much for the first three days. But the way we played in the second innings, under pressure, from Jasprit and Shami was outstanding. We thought with 60 overs to go we could have a crack, and they were outstanding,” Virat said after the match.
“Second half of the day, we thought we were on top and our fans got behind us. We feed off the energy of the crowd as well. The best gift we can give to India, but we have three more Test matches and we can’t sit on our laurels. That one was gut feel but I like to go with my instinct.”
Indian batsman KL Rahul was declared the Man of the Match. “Really happy that hundred could set up a victory for India. Put into bat we had to go out and give the team a good start and put up a total, the opening partnership was really crucial. We’ve been here for a couple of months, working hard on our skills. At Trent Bridge we showed discipline, really pleased and happy we could go out and put up a performance like that.
“With two competitive teams, you’re going to see a lot of heart and great skills and some words. We don’t mind a bit of banter, but if you go after one of our guys all eleven will come right back. That got us going, and the bowlers were really pumped to go out and have a crack. Really happy with the performance,” he added.
