Mohali: Praising the bowlers and India’s lower order batsmen for their stupendous show in Mohali, where the hosts beat England by eight wickets in the third Test match of the five-match series to take 2-0 lead, Indian skipper Virat Kohli said that India played good cricket to be in this advantageous position.

“None of the pitches have been turners,” said Kohli, adding, “We have just played very good cricket. We are getting more and more confident. We lost the toss, bowled them out for 280. It was amazing to see the lower order contribute. I was surprised to hear the cheer when they won the toss. You still have to go out and win the game. We got motivated by that actually. The lower-order contribution is a proud achievement. That pushes the opposition back.”

In all praise for Ravichandran Ashwin, Kohli said, “Ashwin is a champion, No. 1 all-rounder. Ravindra Jadeja is in the top 10, and for Jayant to show the maturity in his first Test, it was awesome. He asked me for the fields he wanted. He took their spinners on. For our quicks to hurry their batsmen is great too. Mohammed Shami feels the injury was a blessing in disguise. He has become more hard-working. He has come back fitter and stronger. Very happy with the way the guys have stood up. Felt bad for Karun Nair, the debutant but he is a good batsman. I am sure he is looking forward to his next Test.”

Meanwhile, Alastair Cook said that it was a good toss to win. “But if you get bowled out for 280 you won't win games. You need to get at least 400 on this pitch. We knew from the last time we beat them after getting them out for 300. Ben Stokes is a brilliant player. He gives balance to the team. He is only going to get better and better. Haseeb showing character was a positive. It has been a frustrating four days. Credit to India, they outplayed us. Unfortunately Haseeb has to go home. He showed a lot of character to come out and bat."