England vs India: Joe Root urges batsmen to learn from Virat Kohli

England captain Joe Root asked his batsmen to learn from his Indian counterpart Virat Kohli on how to tackle tough conditions and still score runs. After winning the first two Tests, England slumped to a heavy 203-run defeat at Trent Bridge to give India a sniff at 2-1 to win the series.

The hosts were bundled out for 161 and inside a single session in the opening innings of the third Test, which ultimately made it possible for India to bounce back in the five-match series. Root, however, pointed out that the conditions – coupled with England’s poor show with the willow – were tough to bat on.

“You’ve definitely seen that the case here with the floodlights coming into it a bit more (aiding swing and seam). The nature of these three games – there has been a lot of overcast conditions, it has got quite dark. It does dramatically change the complexion of the game when that happens,” Root was quoted as saying at the post-match conference by Hindustan Times.

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“It might be difficult, but the best players always find a way to score runs and you look at someone like Virat, who is at the top of his game at the moment, and he has managed to do that. That’s a good lesson for us to learn and take on board going to Southampton. “If you have a strong method, you can succeed against high-quality bowling in these conditions,” he added.

While their middle order and lower-order has performed well, it has been England’s top-order batting that has disappointed so far in the Test series. In all of the three matches – other than the first innings at Edgbaston – England have been left reeling at 80/4.

The skipper though refused to point out any single batsmen for their poor form and called a collective batting failure.

“You’re always looking to learn across the board, not just individual players,” he said. “Virat’s played extremely well, he’s been much disciplined in terms of what he’s trying to do and how he’s trying to score his runs. It’s impressive to see how he has managed to do that for long periods of time in difficult circumstances.

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“I suppose the art of learning is managing to adapt that to the way you play and not trying to copy exactly how someone else goes about things.

“If personally I can do that and other guys as well around our team can take pockets of the way he’s gone about it and apply it to the way they play, then great. Ultimately, it’s about finding the best version of yourself and being really confident with that and going out and trusting it, as you saw Jos (Buttler) do.”

Root himself after the 80 he scored in the first innings of the opening Test has failed to put up any substantial contribution with the bat. But said that he was determined to get a big score in the fourth Test which starts next Thursday.

“I know what I’m capable of doing. I don’t feel as though I’m Bambi on ice or anything. I’m determined to get things right at Southampton… If you are realistic about things – which I try to be – I don’t think I’m far away from making big scores.