India captain Virat Kohli had nothing but praise for Mohammed Shami and Jasprit Bumrah who brought India back in the match with their 89-run ninth-wicket partnership in the second innings against England during the second Test match at Lord's on Monday.
"I am super proud of the whole team and the way we stuck to our plans. Our performance with the bat was outstanding. The pitch didn't offer much on first three days. The first day of the match was the most challenging. The way we played under pressure in the second innings, especially the way Shami and Bumrah batted was outstanding. The tailenders put in a lot of hardwork," he said during the post-match presentation.
Asked about the ovation they gave to Shami and Bumrah, Kohli said, "We were their to applaud them. We were proud of them and wanted to let them know that we appreciated what they did, and they took the new ball and made breakthroughs for us."
India had set England a target of 272 runs in 60 runs and won the match by 151 runs. "This win, to get a result in 60 overs, it's quite special. With someone like Siraj playing at Lord's for the first time and bowling as he did was outstanding," Kohli said.
Kohli said all the tension on the field really motivated his players and even credited the crowd for the win.
"We thought we were on top during the second half of the day and our fans got behind us. We feed off the energy of the crowd as well," he said.
Asked if this win was an Independence Day gift for India, Kohli said, "It comes a day late. It's the best gift we can give to the people of India. But we have three more Test matches and we can't sit on our laurels. Our aim is five test matches."
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