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Virat Kohli
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CHENNAI, (AFP): India skipper Virat Kohli yesterday vowed to give England a “tough fight” in the remaining three Tests after his side lost by 227 runs in the opening match.
Kohli fought a lone battle with his 72 as India crashed to 192 in their chase of 420 on the fifth and final day’s play in Chennai.
The result for India comes after a historic series win in Australia last month, but Kohli said his team is ready to fight back.
“We are a side that accepts our failures and faults and learns from them,” the captain said after the loss.
“One thing is for sure that in the next three matches we are going to give a tough fight and not let things slip away like it did in this Test.” India were left playing catch up after England rode on skipper Joe Root’s 218 to post a mammoth 578 in their first innings.
England, who were coming off the back of a 2-0 Test sweep in Sri Lanka, bowled out India for 337 in their first innings to seize control of the match with a lead of 241. Kohli lauded England’s performance, but did not agree with the suggestion that the tourists look better prepared.
“That was something that was said when Australia won the first Test in 2017, so look we don’t jump the gun or come to conclusions, too early as a side,” he said.
“You could say they are well prepared but to say they are better prepared than us in our own conditions is not an accurate assessment.” Pressure on Kohli’s captaincy increased after he returned from Australia following his team’s opening loss and Ajinkya Rahane led the team to a 2-1 victory.
Off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin claimed six wickets to dismiss England for 178 in the second innings but received little help from left-arm orthodox Shahbaz Nadeem.
Kohli blamed his bowling group as a collective, before singling out Sundar and Shahbaz for criticism.
“You need your bowling unit to step up and create pressure on the opposition,” he said.
“If you talk about the fast bowlers and Ashwin, then we bowled consistently well in good areas,” he continued.
“But had Washi and Shahbaz bowled economical spells, then the situation would have been better.”
