Kohli calls for composure from India’s top order at Lord’s

Indian captain Virat Kohli has urged his top order batting unit to show composure ahead of the second test against England at Lord’s, adding they may need to curb aggression and buy some more time at the crease.

The visitors suffered a 31-run defeat in a thrilling opening test at Edgbaston, despite Kohli’s first test century in England.

The skipper top scored in both Indian innings with 149 and 51 but the rest of the batting lineup struggled to make an impact while chasing a total of 194.

“I don’t think anything (top order failure) should be judged so soon,” Kohli told a news conference on Wednesday.

“But when it comes to the wickets falling quickly, it’s more of a mental aspect than technical — like how you think about a situation after wicket falls.

“I think that matters a lot, you should have a clear plan of what you want to do in the next 30 deliveries and that plan more often than not, is not aggression. We need a little bit more composure there and that, as a batting unit, we have discussed.”

Despite the issues with the batting order, Kohli remains upbeat about his team’s chances of levelling the series ahead of the second test.

“It’s not like we’re getting rolled over – every test match that we’re playing is competitive,” he added. “I feel as a team we’re just about there.”

Top-ranked India could field two spinners at Lord’s, given the recent hot and dry English summer, and Ravichandran Ashwin’s seven wickets in the opening test.

Wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who enjoyed an impressive run in the one-day series last month, and experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja are in contention for a spot in the final lineup.

“When the wicket wears off, the spinners can come into play as well,” Kohli said.

“It’s a tempting thought to field two spinners but we will have to take a call on that depending on the team balance. It’s definitely in contention.”