‘Brilliant leader’ Cook should not quit as captain, insists Root

Starting the series in 15th position, Kohli has risen at a fast pace scoring 405 runs in the three Tests against England, according to an ICC release.

Kohli was surprised at the England fans’ reaction after the toss. I was surprised to hear the cheer when they won the toss.

“And you can sense it as a captain, this guy is intelligent and knows the game”.

Flower said: “He’s obviously got some of the mental attributes of building big innings.so he’s got a lot going for him”. That pushes the opposition back.

“We’ve been on the sub-continent for a long time it can be hard at times, even away from the game”, he added.

Parthiv was in a mood to display his “T20 skills” as he took on the pacers and spinners alike with minimum fuss.

“For our quicks (Shami and Umesh) to hurry their batsmen is great too”. He’s become more aware of what he wants to do and what he has to do as a Test bowler.

“The good thing is whoever is playing is standing up and making their presence felt”.

“He will have different expectations in the future and that might be a different challenge but he has got a very good head on his shoulders and he should be proud of what he has done so far”.

“When he gets out on the field you can see his desire to do well, to try to affect the game. Rishabh has to maintain this consistency and before one plays for India, there is India A. He will certainly get his chance to play for India A. He has to utilise that and I believe no one can then stop him from playing for India”, Sehwag said. He gives balance to the team.

“Credit to them both”, Kohli said of the pacers after India’s victory in Mohali.

Unfortunately the talented Hameed, nicknamed “Baby Boycott” for his composed style of play, will miss the rest of the tour as he returns home for surgery. He picked a total of 8 scalps in the second test, including a fifer in the first innings.

“If I get the opportunity, I hope I’ll offer some control with the ball”. Now it is about managing those expectations and being realistic-it’s going to take time to keep developing and it might not always go how he wants.

“The other thing that really stands out for me about Cookie is that he cares about his players”, he said. The match edged towards a cliffhanger finish before Tim Southee removed Aslam to trigger the collapse that saw eight wickets fall for 49 in 20 overs with Neil Wagner taking the final three for no runs in just six deliveries. I took the risk against the legspinner.

The pitch in Rajkot was a batting friendly pitch, while the pitch in Vishakhapatnam was slow with some uneven bounce, and the Mohali pitch was dry where the ball began to spin only towards the end of day 3. “Those two days, along with the third, were very pleasing for me as the captain”, he added.