It was eye-opening to watch Indian skipper bat, says England’s Curran

Rookie England pacer Sam Curran says it was unreal to perform the way he did only in his second Test though bowling to Indian captain Virat Kohli made him think more about his bowling. Kohli struck a majestic 22nd Test hundred, as India didn’t let advantage slip on day two at Edgbatson.

Curran said that Kohli’s 57run partnership with Ishant Sharma frustrated the hosts but they will try to fight back on day three. “We had them at 100 for five, and felt in the game but then Virat played really well with their tail and frustrated us a little bit. Numbers 9, 10 or 11 aren’t walkovers anymore, and they can all hold a bat now. It was a frustrating partnership, but we’ve just got to be positive going into third day,” said Curran after close of play on day two.

“Credit to a great innings there. I’m only in my second game, but I think it was a little eye-opener for watching the way he bats and how precise you’ve got to be with your lengths to him,” he said.

After a fine start, Curran had struck thrice in eight balls to reduce India to 59-3. Then Ben Stokes also took two wickets before Curran returned to dismiss Hardik Pandya and finish with 4-74.

It was Kohli’s brilliance, despite three dropped catches, that rescued India from a precarious situation of 148-6 and 169-7 later. “Personally, it was obviously a pretty special day for me with the ball. Coming on and taking a few early wickets, I can’t really remember it - it was so unreal. You can’t really predict (if it will swing) until you start bowling a few. But the breeze was pretty good out there, the clouds came in and it started swinging especially when the lacquer came off the ball,” Curran added.