Virat Kohli made the difference in Vizag, says England captain Alastair Cook

Despite the defeat in Vizag, England captain Alastair Cook gave a vote of confidence to the tourists, saying that his counterpart Virat Kohli proved to be the difference between the two sides.

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With the 246-run defeat, England went 0-1 down in the four Test series after the first match at Rajkot was drawn. But Alastair Cook maintained that England contested both the matches strongly.

“It’s disappointing, but we are still very much in the series,” Cook said at the post-match conference. “We have competed well over the ten days. The margin of loss here was different but take out Virat Kohli’s runs and it was much closer,” Kohli was adjudged man of the match for his innings of 167 and 81.

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Cook also said that losing the toss affected the outcome.

“I think we can all agree it was a good toss to win. In Rajkot we made them play hard but they are good bowlers. Winning the toss doesn’t guarantee a result but it’s advantageous on such wickets,” said Cook, adding that “(India) have good bowlers for such tracks.”

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Chasing 405, England began the final day at 87/2 but showed no intent of going for the win, opting instead to try and bat out the day. Cook admitted that the decision came about after watching South Africa’s failed attempt to do the same in the Delhi Test last year.

“We wanted to take it as deep as possible to save the game,” Cook said. “We had seen that South Africa game last year. It could be said now that we could have been a little more attacking but we made a conscious effort to go that way. It’s not natural for some. You make a decision like that and everyone walks in.”

Speaking on fast bowler Stuart Broad’s injury, Cook said, “Playing Broad could be a big risk for him. We will get to know the extent of his injury in next 24-48 hours.”