2mins Kohli praises bowlers for Test win against England

Since Alastair Cook’s visiting England beat MS Dhoni’s team at Eden Gardens in December 2012 to take an unassailable 2-1 series lead, India have played 16 Tests at home without defeat, winning 13 and drawing three.

India captured five wickets in the morning session to inch closer to victory against England in the second test on Monday.

“I think they are combining really well – all the spinners and fast bowlers – at the moment”.

England not only struggled to cope with the spin, but also the speed at which Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja were operating, as they raced through a staggering 20.4 overs within the first hour of play.

A miserable day was concluded when James Anderson became the first England batsman since 1906 to pick up a king pair by falling first ball to the same bowler. The loss of Cook, in the day’s final over after scoring a dogged 54, was a huge blow for England.

At lunch the tourists’ cause looked hopeless, the score reading a paltry 142-7 – and India claimed the three remaining wickets they needed swiftly after the interval.

“There wasn’t much happening on the wicket but the batsmen succumbed to it because they knew they couldn’t afford to make any mistakes”.

Second Test cricket match – Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, India – 20/11/16. We knew that they are going to try and annoy us by playing like this and hope that we lose that our cool, bowl with different plans and do too many things, which we did not.

India eventually scored 455 runs in the first innings and the 64-run stand between Ashwin and Jayant played a big role in the same. Ashwin and Jadeja bowled a couple of overs to maintain the pressure, but then Mohammed Shami and Jayant Yadav were introduced into the attack for the very first time in the day.

Kohli had scored 167 runs in the first innings and 81 in the second.

“In India you’ve got to score first-innings runs, you see how hard it was for India to score in their second innings”. England have played quality cricket.

Joe Root, who was dropped on nine by Kohli at leg slip off Ashwin, provided some resistance until fast bowler Mohammed Shami had him lbw for 25.

Coach Trevor Bayliss has indicated he could opt to replace Duckett in the starting line-up with Jos Buttler if he does not show a marked improvement in the build-up to the third Test.

England also had their share of laugh when Staurt Broad and Adil Rashid bagged four wickets each to bundle out India for 204 providing target of 405 against England.