London: Pace spearhead Ishant Sharma credited captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for instructing him to bowl the bouncers that helped India win the second Test at Lord’s here on Monday to give them a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

After drawing the first Test at Trent Bridge, India won the second match by 95 runs after bowling the hosts out for 223. Right-arm pacer Ishant rattled the England batsmen by bowling regular short balls, which helped him earn career-best figures of 7 for 74 and the man of the match award.

“Cricket is a great leveller, the way M.S. bhai handled the team, the way he keeps on motivating the guys. I think all these wickets are not for me, it is only for the captain — he told me you are tall enough, you have to try the bouncer,” said the lanky Ishant in the post-match presentation.

The Delhi-born seamer also credited his teammates for their performances that helped India in winning their first Test at Lord’s since 1986.

“The way the batsmen played in the first innings, Ajinkya [Rahane] played really well in the first innings, that gave us the momentum. Also the way [Murali] Vijay, Jaddu [Ravindra Jadeja] and Bhuvi [Bhuvneshwar Kumar] played,” added the 25-year-old.

Alastair Cook, meanwhile, will not be quitting as England captain despite the fact they have now gone 10 Tests without a win.

Cook, also in a poor run of form with the bat, has come under increasing pressure to stand down.

“It gets harder and harder the more we don’t win,” Cook said at the presentation ceremony. “It heaps it on me. But until I’m tapped on the shoulder, I’m desperate to turn it around. I’m here until the end of the summer.

“I’ve got an inner steel, which I have to keep drawing on. I have to score some runs. A 10 and a 20 didn’t seem a lot, but I hit the ball better.”

Cook said the England players were struggling to take advantage of good positions.

“It’s an issue with confidence, getting over that line,” he said.

“We are desperate to win for England. The longer that builds up, it is going to take a serious performance.

“A lot of the standout performances have been from the younger players. The older guys aren’t playing as well as their record suggests. I’ve got to start scoring runs as well.”

Cook also gave credit to India for outperforming them in all departments. “It’s a tough defeat. I think we have to give India a lot of credit. They have outbowled and outbatted us,” he said.

“Last innings as well, the pitch was turning and bouncing. It was a good toss to win, but credit to India, they left very well,” said Cook, referring to the green pitch that was prepared for the match.