Joe Root stresses that England need to keep Virat Kohli quiet in order to win the series

Following an embarrassing defeat in the second Test at the Lord’s Stadium in London, England gave an excellent account of themselves and bounced back in a might manner in the third Test. They defeated Team India by an innings and 76 runs at Headingley and England captain Joe Root wants his side to take the lead in the fourth Test.

The match begins at The Oval in London and the England captain says the team is well prepared for it. They’re also ready to continue to keep Indian skipper Virat Kohli quiet as they have done throughout the series so far.

“The credit needs to go to our bowling attack, Virat is a world-class player hence the credit needs to be given to the bowling group. We have been able to keep him quiet, it is an extremely good effort from our bowling group and it is something we have to continue if we have to win this series. We have found ways to get him out, he is a fine player and has done tremendous things in Test cricket, we will have to look at ways to get the best players out,” said Root, as quoted by ANI.

Root also urged caution to his side against a ‘world-class’ Indian side. It must be added here that following a humiliation at the hands of Australia in the Adelaide Test, the team went on to win the Test series. England would want to avoid being carried away.

“Absolutely, world-class side like India led by Virat Kohli, I expect nothing less than a response. We would be naive to think otherwise, it is important that we do not get to deluded. We have gotten to the level playing field, we have to work harder now. If we find ourselves ahead of the game at any stage, we have to consolidate,” he added.

The England bowlers sniffed out any chance of a comeback by the Indian batsman on Day 5 of the Headingley Test. It drew plenty of praise from their captain who considered the performance ‘flawless.’

“I think it was a brilliant performance, nice template for us to work with really. The challenge is to replicate it and go one better. From a bowling perspective, I think we were flawless, we hit the right lengths early on and we managed to do it for long periods of time. With bat in hand, Headingley was our best outing till now and hopefully, we can go on,” said Root.