Winning the Lord’s Test right up there with some of our best overseas victories: says Virat Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli said he was “extremely proud” of his team for the character and courage shown in the match against England on the last day of the 2nd test match in London at Lord’s.

Kohli said India don’t rate victories at one venue higher than others but the 151-run win at the iconic venue is special and ‘right up there’ with some of their best overseas results.

India bowled England out for 120 in less than 52 overs after setting the hosts a target of 272. India had headed into the final day at Lord’s under a bit of pressure as they had only Rishabh Pant to bat with the tail-enders when the lead was just over 150. India lost Pant early in the day but an unbeaten 89-run stand between Mohammed Shami (56) and Jasprit Bumrah (34) gave India a comfortable lead.

India had less than 2 sessions to bowl England out but the bowling unit was charged up after all the banter over the last few days at Lord’s. With Mohammed Siraj leading the attack with 4 wickets, the likes of Bumrah (3/33) and Ishant Sharma (2/13) pegged England back with quick wickets.

Speaking to BCCI after India’s memorable win, Virat Kohli said India were hurt when they lost the Lord’s Test inside 3 days during their trip in 2018.

“Quite amazing. More than Lord’s or anything of that sort.. we are not really bothered about where we are playing, to be really honest. We don’t rank some games at some stadiums in the higher pecking order than the others,” Kohli said.

“But having said, we won in 2014, 2018 was a bad loss for us here. Even then we believed we could upset England at Lord’s. That really hurt us, to be honest as a team,” he added.

“I am really proud of the team, we have had some amazing overseas wins and this one is right up there just because of the belief and character we showed and that’s been the hallmark of our team.”

Kohli in awe of ‘unbelievable’ Bumrah-Shami partnership
Kohli heaped praise on openers KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma for setting the tone with a hundred-plus stand on Day 1.There was rich praise for Shami and Bumrah, the batting heroes for India on Day 5 as skipper Kohli conceded that the 89-run stand boxed England out of the contest.

“In this series, even in the first Test, I thought we were right on top. 150-odd to get on the last day. We were so disappointed that the rain interrupted,” Kohli added.

“Unbelievable (Shami-Bumrah partnership). To be very honest, we were all counting on Rishabh on with the tail and get us extra runs. We were thinking 200 would be great, 175-180, we will take that as well to have a crack at them. But 270 is something we didn’t expect.

“Just shows in this game, if you have the belief and character, you can take up the chances that come your way. Jasprit and Shami were outstanding. What they did completely shifted the momentum towards us. The opposition was completely out of the game. We knew that they were going to play for survival,” Kohli added.

Having sealed a 1-0 lead, India will be looking to take an unbeatable lead in the 5-match series when they take on the hosts at Leeds from August 24.