India vs England, 2nd T20I: He just took the game away from the opposition: Kohli lauds debutant Ishan Kishan

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Bengaluru, March 14: While debutant Ishan Kishan put up a stellar show with the willow, skipper Virat Kohli led the team from the front as India levelled the five-match T20 International series 1-1, with a 7-wicket win over England on Sunday.

After being outplayed in the opening match of the series, the hosts put up a comprehensive show to level the series.

Speaking about the win, captain Kohli, said the team ticked all the boxes to register a comfortable win over Eoin Morgan’s men. “Quite a good game for us. I think we ticked all the boxes we wanted to. Especially in the first innings with the ball. To give away only 34 in the last five, very smart bowling. Especially Washy, he had only one left-hander to bowl to and he used the big boundary to the right-handers better.

“It did get a bit better to bat in the second innings. The ball gripped a bit less. Having said that, they bowled too short, probably not on, on that surface,” said Kohli, who played an unbeaten knock of 73 off 49.

The captain also lauded Kishan, who impressed on his first international match. Kishan stitched together a partnership of 94 off 56 with Kohli, to put India in the driver’s seat. Speaking about the youngster’s quickfire knock off 56 off 32, Kohli said, “Special mention to Ishan. I tried to do what I can but he just took the game away from the opposition. Quality innings on debut.

“When you play in the IPL with such dominance like he has, against quality bowlers. We've seen him hit international fast bowlers for big sixes. He knew he was hitting the ball well but he was calculated, not reckless. Today that counter-attacking innings of his and our partnership was something the team needed.”

Meanwhile talking about his own stellar knock, Kohli, who was enduring a lean patch, said, “I had to shift the focus back to the basics. Probably thinking of too many variables on the outside. I've always taken pride in doing the job for the team, so more happy about that than scoring 70 odd. Kept my eye on the ball. The management spoke to me about things. Anushka is here so she also keeps speaking to me about things. And I had a special chat with AB de Villiers before this game and he told me just to watch the ball. So I did!”

Meanwhile the skipper said that having Hardik Pandya back to bowling was a big boost to the team. “Credit to Hardik that he's bowling at least 3 overs for us in every game. And the next six to eight months period he's promised he's going to commit everything to being the allrounder the team needs in all three formats. He plays for the team at all times and these kinds of players are priceless,” signed off the captain.