Kohli admits to being ‘really outplayed’ by England

England “can outplay any opposition when they play like that,” conceded the Indian captain after his team’s loss in the second Test at Lord’s.

India’s much-vaunted batting line-up collapsed like nine pins on Sunday.

After enduring his first innings-defeat as captain, a hurt Virat Kohli has admitted that India was outplayed by England in the second Test.

"There's no hiding from the fact that mistakes have been made," he said. "We didn't play good cricket in this game. We bowled well in the beginning but didn't hit our areas consistently. We didn't get enough chances in the field to miss any, but with bat and ball we could have done much better than we did. We're certainly not thinking of anything else but making it 2-1 in the series and building on that strongly."

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He added: "This is the first time in the last five Tests that we've been really outplayed. We've competed in every game before. A side like England, when they play like that, they can outplay any opposition, especially when they play at home and the ball is doing a bit. We'll have to accept that, put it aside and improve in the next game."

Kohli did not want to use the conditions as an excuse. "A lot of people are talking about the conditions, that we batted during a difficult time. On the day that was good for batting, we had to bowl. If we think about these things, we won't be able to plan for the future. You can't control the toss or how the weather will be on a particular day," he said.

‘All in the head’

Kohli was asked if the team was a 'one-man army', the captain being the man in question. "We definitely as a team don't and can't think from that point of view. No one's doing anyone a favour by going out there and performing. It's our job to do that and it's a duty we've been given. We've been selected to play for the country. We need guys putting their hands up and saying ‘give me a tough situation, I’m going to pull the team out.’ As I said before the game, it’s all in the head. It’s nothing to do with the game. You can play well in any condition if you are mentally ready for it. We should want the next Test match to come early rather than thinking we have five days till the next Test match comes."