England pacer Ollie Robinson dismissed India skipper Virat Kohli on the opening day of the second Test at Lord’s and called it the most prized scalp of his brief career so far.
High on confidence after his maiden five-wicket haul in the opening Test at Trent Bridge, Robinson got rid of the well-set Kohli on 42, through a catch 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," Robinson said at the post-day press conference.
The visitors posted 276/3 at stumps on Day 1 after being asked to bat first. The duo of KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma added 126 runs for the opening wicket to lead the foundation for a big first-innings total.
While Rahul remained unbeaten on 127 at the close of play, Rohit played fluently before being dismissed on 83.
Robinson praised 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.
Ollie Robinson also expressed his disappointment over the pitch served at the Home of Cricket.
“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."
With Stuart Broad ruled out of the Test series due to calf injury, Robinson got the opportunity to share the new ball with veteran James Anderson.
“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 concluded.
(With PTI inputs)
