India vs England: The pace-fuelled Indian team is an image of Virat Kohli | Cricket News – Times of India

For the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack,” wrote Rudyard Kipling in ‘The Jungle Book’. Now, juxtapose the pack as the Indian cricket team and the wolf as their captain, Virat Kohli.
Kohli is a fantastic batsman whose powers have been on the wane since the start of 2020. What isn’t waning, though, is his passion to play Test cricket and excel in it. When he took over as captain from MS Dhoni, it was clear he wanted to leave a mark with the way he led.
Pace was going to be his weapon of choice, especially when India travelled overseas, and he started building the team, “his team”, around quality fast bowlers. Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah formed the core.

The net for the supporting act was cast far and wide and it resulted in players like Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini and the shining light of Brisbane and Lord’s, Mohammed Siraj. Kohli wanted his pacers to be aggressive and in the batsman’s face.
“If you cop it, give it back” was his mantra. His batting colleagues and past and present ’keepers joined the chorus. It was all evident at Lord’s on Day 5.
Hunting in a pack acquired a new meaning as this Indian team, led by the pacers and their expressive and energetic ringleader, who is clearly the heartbeat of Team India, was all over England like a rash.

The verbals flew thick and fast, Wood to Bumrah, Buttler to Bumrah, Anderson to Shami. On the team balcony, Kohli kept count and told his colleagues to give it back. With interest. His men needed no second invitation.
‘Man of the Match’ KL Rahul alluded to this during his virtual interaction with the media after the match.
“It showed how badly both teams wanted to win. That’s how Test cricket is played. We as a team are never shy to say a word or two,” Rahul, whose 129 in the first innings set up the match, said.
Rahul explained the “hunting-in-a-pack” mentality beautifully and his answer also indicated how tightly knit this unit is, something that was seen when the whole team came down from the balcony to greet and applaud Shami and Bumrah after their hit-giggle-slog-block-sledge partnership added 89 for the ninth wicket and pushed England out of the contest.

“Someone comes after our player and the rest of the 10 guys get pumped as well. That’s the kind of atmosphere and team bonding that we have. If you go after one of our guys that means you are going after our whole team,” Rahul said.
“Bowlers were really keen to have a go and have a crack out there in the middle and give it their all in 60 overs. This is what people come to watch and it only speaks about how badly each team wants to win.
They knew each of them would have to bowl 10 or 12 overs each. The pitch was behaving a bit up and down and an opportunity like this to win a Test match doesn’t always come,” he stated.

If Sourav Ganguly’s delirious shirt-twirling act was a lasting image of the 2002 NatWest Trophy win, Kohli hurling colourful Punjabi abuses while applauding every run that Bumrah and Shami added will be the lasting image of the 2021 Lord’s victory. There is another thing that will stand out.
Kohli telling Anderson, “This is not your f***ing backyard.” when it actually was.
Just that Kohli and his boys made Anderson and the rest of the England team feel out of place in their own backyard with their passion, skill and perseverance. If anyone thinks Test cricket is dying and it needs a face to sell it, contact the Indian skipper.