Having played the game-changing and eventually a match-winning knock of 63 in the second innings of the Edgbaston Test, the young and affable Sam Curran has said that it was Indian Captain Virat Kohli's gritty 149 in the first innings that inspired him to do something similar for his team. Curran went onto say that he "tried to learn from how Virat Kohli batted" and helped him play the vital knock. 

Curran received the man of the match award for his 5 wickets and 67 runs in the game and said, "I can't take it all at the moment. It feels like I'm dreaming. To be honest, I tried to learn from how Virat batted with the tail in the first innings,"

Having helped England win the game by 31 runs, Curran further added and revealed, "Met Kumar (Sangakkara) the other day in the hotel and he spoke to me a bit about batting with the tail. Playing Test cricket in front of this crowd, with these guys I have grown up watching, I am just looking to learn every day," 

Curran has not only earned the respect of those who watched him play but also from those who played alongside him. All-rounder Ben Stokes talked about Curran's magnificent contribution to team's success and said, "I thought we were a bit behind with the lead but Sam Curran took them out of play, the way that he played at such a young age, that was the big turning point of this Test match,"

It was Stokes who actually made the body blow on India by removing the opposition's best batsman with only 53 runs more needed. Talking about Virat's wicket on Day 4 and how this win would silence England's critics up, Stokes said, "Kohli played a brilliant knock in the first innings, but with the ball swinging he was trying to move across to play for that inswinger but actually the one that I was trying to swing away, he may be leant over and missed one for a change."

"We weren't quite sure what to expect here. Knew we needed five wickets and we had all the confidence. These games are brilliant. We've copped a lot of stick as a team recently and beating a team like India there has closed a few months, Winning those tight games, you can't underestimate what it gives teams for confidence. We've got a five-Test match series here, so we'll take all the confidence we can. No better way to start it off than that."

(Inputs from PTI)