Kohli after India's win: Counts in top 3 bowling performances I have witnessed as captain

Update: 2021-09-06 22:59 IST

Kohli after India's win: Counts in top 3 bowling performances I have witnessed as captain

Virat Kohli hailed his bowlers, saying "this is amongst the top three bowling performances I have witnessed as India captain" after Team India defeated England by 157 runs in the fourth Test at Oval on Monday.

Chasing India's target of 368, England were 77 for no loss at stumps of Day four. A collective effort from the Indian bowlers saw the hosts get bowl out for 210 on the final day to hand India an unassailable lead of 2-1 with the final Test due to be played in Manchester later this week.

Umesh Yadav cleaned up England's tail by dismissing the final three batsmen - Chris Woakes, Craig Overton and James Anderson, while the other wickets went to Jasprit Bumrah (2 for 27), Ravindra Jadeja (2 for 50) and Shardul Thakur (2 for 22).

As India ended their winless streak of eight matches at the Oval, registering their first Test victory at the venue since 1971, a thrilled Kohli said that he is proud of the character his side showed in the match.

"Well, I think the best thing about both the games has been the character the team has showed. We are not looking to survive in this game, we are here to win. Really proud of the character the team has showed. I said at Lord's as well, I am proud of the character shown by the team, this is amongst the top three bowling performances I have witnessed as India captain. It's quite relative what you call flat. The conditions were hot and we knew were in with an opportunity when Jadeja was bowling into the rough," said Kohli in a post-match interview on Monday.

Bumrah, who finished the Oval with four wickets, also became the fastest Indian pacer to 100 Test wickets, surpassing Kapil Dev, who took 25 matches to reach a century of scalps in the whites, while Bumrah took a game less. Bumrah achieved the feat by removing Oille Pope in the final innings.

After getting out for a mere 11 runs in the first innings, eventual Player of the Match, Rohit Sharma, scored a century to help India put up 466 runs in their second innings. Kohli also heaped praise on Thakur for his all-round show, where he picked up three wickets and also scored twin half-centuries in the Test.

"The bowlers were good with the reverse swing today. We believed we could get all 10 wickets, we had the belief. As soon as the ball started reversing, Bumrah said give me the ball. He bowled that spell and swung the game in our favour with those two huge wickets. I think you pointed his performance. Rohit's innings was fantastic.

"What Shardul has done in this game stands out. His two fifties deflated the opposition. I think he batted well in both the innings. We never go towards analysis, statistics and numbers. We know what we need to focus on and we take a collective decision as a group. It's unfortunate (Ravi Shastri and co) they are not here. Everyone is happy with the win. It gives us more motivation to win the next Test. We have the belief, we are just looking forward to the opportunities. Whatever the noise's on the outset, it doesn't bother us. The fans have been amazing as well," added Kohli in the same interview.

With two Test wins each, Kohli was earlier tied with Kapil Dev in the list of most victories in the longest format in England as India captain. The latest win in the Oval Test meant, Kohli has surpassed the legend in the list.


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