Rajkot: India skipper Virat Kohli said the critics now cannot question his team’s ability to force a draw from tough situations as he dug his heels and led the side to a draw in the series-opener on Sunday.
Kohli played a fighting unbeaten 49-run knock and together with Ravindra Jadeja (32) ensured that the team come out unscathed.
“Well, at least we know how to draw games now. Before that, some people obviously were sceptical about our side knowing how to draw games. We won games or we lost games,” the captain said.
“I spoke with Ravindra Jadeja out there that it was an opportunity for both of us to improve on another aspect of the game. Maybe in Test cricket in the future, we will have this situation again. Maybe we will have to apply ourselves again and show character, show intent to get runs in between, but play percentage cricket, figuring out areas where you want to take ones or hit boundaries but at the same time be sure of your defense as well. It was a challenging situation but one that we counted really well,” Kohli said.
The Indian captain though made it clear that he was surprised to see the tinge of green on the track. “I was quite surprised to see that much grass, to be honest. It should not have been the case.”
The tourists had declared their second innings at 260-3 shortly after lunch, leaving the home side to chase 310 runs off a minimum 49 overs on the fifth and last day.
But the Indians were soon fighting for survival after losing wickets in a clutch on a wearing track at the Saurashtra Cricket Association ground, hosting its first Test ever.
The Indians finished on 172-6 with local hero Ravindra Jadeja also remaining not out on 32.
England had India in early trouble at 71-4 but Kohli steadied the ship with a 47-run partnership that he shared with Ravichandran Ashwin (32).
Adil Rashid was the pick of the bowlers with 3-64 while his spin partners Moeen Ali and Zafar Ansari took one wicket apiece.
Ali, who scored a century in the first innings, was named Man of the Match.
Kohli though said the track was not as unplayable and did not hold demons as it looked from outside with the fall of quick Indian wickets.
“We saw from day 3 onwards, the last hour, the ball did quite a bit for the spinners. That stayed consistent on days 3, 4 and 5. I don’t think it was similar throughout the day. The odd ball bounced in between and you had to pitch the ball in the right areas as spinners to get purchase from day 3 onwards. The first two days were really good to bat on.
“Day 3 onwards, it slowed down a little bit but no demons as such. Sometimes, the situation becomes such that even on flat wickets, you tend to make mistakes. It looks that it is doing a lot more than it is actually out there.
“And, someone who is out there will understand how much the ball was doing because I spent decent time out there and it is because we lost four-five wickets that it looks like it’s going to rip through from a good-length area. That was not the case. The wicket was pretty decent throughout the game,” he explained
He got annoyed when asked whether the visiting team’s spinners outperformed the Indian trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Jadeja and Amit Mishra.
“I don’t think so. They bowled well but it’s not that they outperformed our spinners. It’s not that they took five-for and totally turned around the game. They should have won the game if they outperformed our spinners,” he said curtly.
England were bolstered by a 180-run partnership between skipper Alastair Cook (130) and debutant Haseeb Hameed — a record opening stand for England in India. It was the 30th Test century for the left-handed Cook and record fifth in India, more than any overseas batsman.
Hameed, 19, belied his tender years in making 82 off 177 balls that contained one six and seven boundaries. His knock was the highest Test score by a teenager for England, beating Jack Crawford’s 74 in Cape Town in 1906.
India finally tasted success when leg-spinner Amit Mishra took a sharp return catch as Hameed tried to go for a slog sweep.
