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“We showed great character after being on the back foot,” says Virat Kohli

Chaithanya Sagar
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Virat Kohli Source: Indian Express

As the first Test at Eden Gardens got off with a downpour, the match got interrupted for the starting couple of days leaving the fans as well as the teams in a chaotic situation.

With rains starting to realise that it was a five-day match, it didn’t have the intensity to put the match on hold all days. Sri Lanka’s arrival in India was the talking point.

Sri Lanka sent jitters down the Indian spines in the first innings as India were put on the back foot by the visitors. An unexpected welcome was not the sign India expected.

India had to bounce back to show what they are capable of stealing the spotlight in the home conditions that were a bit wet and had a fair amount of grass on it.

It was because of the showers that the end result was a draw or else, it would have been a different result. With time running out from the pockets and with bad light to play, Sri Lanka survive to end the game level on points with India with three wickets in hand.

The Indian skipper Virat Kohli was pleased with how things turned out for India in the last two days. He said that the team showed great character after being on the back foot.

“It was important to make something out of the game with whatever time we had. As you mentioned, conditions changed drastically into day four- five. We showed character after being on the back foot initially. Credit to Sri Lanka; they bowled well.

We knew if we get stuck with our bowling effort and not let them get too far ahead, we can pull the game back again. We didn’t look at Sri Lanka’s batting collapses to be honest. We believed in ourselves.

It was difficult to survive on the pitch if you didn’t have intent. You had to get to the ball and not let it seam. We knew that the batsmen won’t be wanting to make too many mistakes, so the intent won’t be there.

Bhuvneshwar has picked up the pace. Bowls heavier balls and he’ll do well in overseas conditions. He’s going to be an important part of our plan going forward in all formats. Credit to him; he’s working hard and it’s paying for him.

And that If we get enough good balls, which we did, fell just three short (of wickets, we could have been back in the game). All in all very proud of where we stand after the Test match,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.

The No.1 ranked Test team will once again lock horns with the Lankan tail for the second Test match where it beckons at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur on November 24.

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