India vs England: Virat Kohli Says Playing Two Spinners At Lord's A Tempting Thought

India captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday said that it is tempting to field two spinners for the second Test against England at Lord's, beginning on Thursday. Speaking at the press conference ahead of the second match, Kohli said the pitch looked really hard, dry and it will definitely be an all-round wicket. "Playing two spinners could be a very tempting thought. The pitch looked really hard, the surface looked dry. It has been very hot in London for a last couple of months. It is good that it has grass on the wicket and basically it is required to keep the wicket like that otherwise it's gonna be very difficult for the pitch to hold itself even in the first few days," Kohli said.

Indian batsmen failed to counter the fiery English pace attack as they collapsed both in the first and second innings. When asked about the same, Kohli said, "I don't think we should reach at a conclusion this early. We, as a team, showed more patience than the others. We don't follow any pattern. And when it comes to losing a wicket, it is all about the mental aspect," Kohli remarked.

Kohli also stressed on the need to be more composed on the field. ""There must be a clear plan on how to face the first 20-30 balls, and more often than not that plan does not involve aggression. We need to show composure after a fall of a wicket. From outside, the conditions seem bad because cricket is a marginal game, especially Test. Moreover, it is difficult to play in the English conditions. So, the margin of error is very less. There is nothing much to think or change," he said.

India came close to winning the opening Test against England but fell short by 31 runs. On this, Kohli said that they, as a team, are currently thinking of how to cross the line. "It's unfortunate that we have not been able to cross the line when we reached so close. We are thinking about how to cross the line. No matter who does it, it is all about crossing the line", he said.

"It doesn't hurt when you score runs and don't win. It hurts only when you are not scoring runs, the team is not doing well. It hurts purely because we haven't won the game. As a batsman, I'm trying to score runs for the team and I'm trying my level best to do that for the team," Kohli concluded.

Topics mentioned in this article

India Cricket Team England Cricket Team Virat Kohli England vs India, 2018 Cricket England vs India, 2nd Test