Plan for Kohli was always to bowl fourth-stump line and it worked: Robinson

Team Udayavani, Aug 13, 2021, 12:26 PM IST

London: England pacer Ollie Robinson got rid of India skipper Virat Kohli late on day one in the second Test, calling the prized wicket the biggest of his fledgling career. Fresh from his maiden five-wicket haul in the opening Test at Trent Bridge, Robinson removed Kohli (42) who edged it to Joe Root at first slip after the second new ball was taken.

”Virat is probably my biggest wicket to date, so I was happy with that. It was a huge moment. The plan for him was always to bowl the fourth-fifth stump line, back of a length. Luckily the plan worked,” said Robinson after stumps on Thursday.

KL Rahul remained unbeaten on 127, carrying his bat from the first ball to last, while his senior opening partner Rohit Sharma played fluently before getting out for 83 — his best score in an away Test — to lead India to a commanding 276 for three on day one after Root opted to bowl.

Robinson credited the opposition batsmen for their efforts but also felt that his team was unlucky.

”There were probably 10-15 play-and-misses that I could count and, on another day, we might have had them two-three down early on,” the 27-year-old rued.

”We definitely looked at conditions and thought we could get a few early ones here. I think on another day it (wickets) might have happened…

”I felt we did bowl well. We toiled hard against their batters and to be fair, they played well. It’s just one of those days where they didn’t nick it to be honest,” he said.

Thick clouds in the morning had delayed the start of play as Root was quick to opt for bowling to exploit the conditions, something that did not happen.

Asked if the pitch let them down, he said: ”We expected the pitch to be a little bit quicker, nippier. Obviously, it’s a little bit slow.

”The swing was a little bit inconsistent, I don’t know if it was the ball or the overheads. We decided to go wobble-seam for a little bit, which we felt was a good plan, but the wicket was a little bit slow for it and not as receptive as we thought it might be.” Stuart Broad’s absence (calf tear) meant that Robinson shared the new ball with ace paceman James Anderson and he said he was up for the challenge. ”It was a privilege to share the new ball with Jimmy. I’ve shown over the last couple of games that I’m ready for the toil when it comes,” he signed off.