Kohli gives credit to England after losing series 1-3

“I thought England did well to give us that target. They batted well in third innings. Seeing how the pitch was, how the ball was turning, they applied themselves and got to a total that was challenging. I thought we were in with a fifty-fifty chance last night. Didn’t get a good start, England applied a lot of pressure. All in all it was a challenging day, we put our best foot forward but it wasn’t good enough. Don’t think we made too many mistakes today,” analysed Kohli.

Despite losing the series, Kohli said his team would look to salvage pride in the fifth Test beginning at The Oval on September 7.

“There weren’t many negatives for us from this game. Need to focus on positives. Have to take heart going into the final Test.”

Kohli praised the contribution of the English lower order with the bat.

“It is quite handy to have guys who can strike the ball well in those positions. Once those partnerships get going, it gets frustrating. Every team feels like that, when the lower-order gets runs. They were braver in tough situations than us. Those contributions from lower-order have been significant. Would like to congratulate Sam Curran, a nice find for England and he’s doing well,” pointed out Kohli.

His counterpart Joe Root was pleased with the collective performance of his team and he reserved high praise for the young Sam Curran.

“For a young guy (Curran) to have such an influence is outstanding. Credit to the group, they were outstanding throughout. From being up against it on the first morning, character has been a massive strength of this team.”

“For the seamers it was about hitting the surface as hard as possible and for spinners it was about being as aggressive as possible. Keep the catchers in and trust that there would be one ball that would turn the game around. The way we went about how to approach the day’s play was outstanding,” added Root.

Man of the match Moeen Ali took pride in his bowling effort and said that the break from the game did him a world of good.

“It’s great to be back. I have missed Test cricket a lot. Needed a break. Just to appreciate everything in general. To enjoy my cricket again. When I was watching the guys at home, I missed it. Great to come back and contribute to winning a game. Playing in England for a while now, back myself a bit more. Got more confidence from county cricket. Done a lot of hard work with Saqlain. Feel like I’m getting better as a spinner everyday.”