‘A victory for the dressing room’

India captain Virat Kohli said his team never stopped believing in its abilities even though a lot of people had given up on them after back-to-back defeat against England in the first two Tests.

The comprehensive 203-run win in the third Test kept India alive in the five-match series and Kohli was effusive in his praise of his players for believing in themselves.

“We were down 2-0 in the series and a lot of people have stopped believing in us. But we believed in ourselves and that is why it is 1-2 now after 0-2. All that matter was what we thought inside the change room. Anything on the outside did not really matter. We believe we can win the series,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

“The victory was muchneeded in the context of this series. We have been clinical in all departments and it is a victory for the entire dressing room. A complete Test win for us,” Kohli said. Played 6 4

Asked if he had exorcised the ghosts of his batting failure in 2014, he said, “I haven’t thought about the 2014 failures, but I am happy to have contributed to my team’s cause.”

Kohli said his bowlers have been making a mark in the series so far and once the batsmen stepped up, it was a matter of time that his team start stamping its domination.

“There was no panic in the team and we were outplayed in only one Test out of the five we had played since South Africa, and that was at Lord’s. We dominated in this game because we put runs on the board and then the bowlers did well. They (bowlers) were waiting and ready, even Ashwin did well with his injury.

“The bowling was ready to take 20 wickets again and the question was what we could do as batsmen to give them that cushion. I am glad that the batsmen stepped up. We spoke about stepping up as batsmen, and that’s what we did, and we set it up for the bowlers. When both skills come together with slip catching, we win Test matches. Everything came together for us.”

NOTTINGHAM: INDIA’S TOP CAPTAINS IN TESTS

Won

27 21

15 14

36 9 8 Lost 18 Draw 15

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