India clinched the Vizag Test against England by 246 runs to go 1-0 in the five-match Test series. Led by the spinning duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Jayant Yadav, who picked up 6 wickets between them, the hosts dominated proceedings on the fifth day to take the honours in the game.
England captain Alastair Cook was obviously disappointed at his side’s loss in the game and added that despite the loss, the team showed a lot of fight and character.
"It wasn't a great moment to fight so hard, so was disappointing to get out at the end. Think we saw the first day was easiest to bat, then you can see it became harder. It was a good toss to win, no doubt. From losing those five wickets on day two - you have to score first-innings runs - but from that moment we showed a lot of character and fight. We made India work very hard. We played some good cricket at stages in these first two games. We need to win a couple of games to get ourselves back in the series."
Cook’s counterpart, Virat Kohli, was on the other hand, an ecstatic man and admitted that Vizag had been a lucky ground for him.
"It's been a lucky ground for me and it remains a special ground, similar feel I get to Adelaide. You want to play exciting cricket because so many people come to watch. They help you through tough situations. We wanted to make sure we batted five sessions, get 450+ which is what we did, then the bowlers were always on top. Scoreboard pressure really counts. There wasn't much happening in the wicket, but the batsmen succumbed. I knew I was striking the ball well.
“The biggest positives are how the fast bowlers bowled and Jayant's debut. It's always priceless those contributions and it speaks volumes of his character. I'm really happy for him. For a young guy to come in and tell me the field he wants, it shows he knows what he is doing. I knew the batsmen uncomfortable. Was lovely to have five bowlers who can pick up wickets. We've been playing some really good cricket, we don't want to be complacent but don't want to be desperate, either. We respect England."
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