India skipper Virat Kohli was pleasantly surprised when he won the toss at the 3rd Test against England at Headingley on Wednesday. Kohli had no hesitation to opt to bat despite an overcast morning after winning the toss in Leeds.
Notably, Virat Kohli had never managed to win the toss as Test captain before Wednesday in England. Kohli had lost 8 tosses as Test captain on the trot in the Old Blight before reversing the fortunes at Headingley. It was Joe Root who spun the coin and the India captain surprised himself by calling it right.
This is also the first time Kohli has won the toss in Tests since the Chennai Test in February against England.
“It’s a surprise I’ve won the toss. We’re batting first. Looks firm and without grass and runs on the board will set this up. We’re going in with the same XI,” Kohli said.
Kohli named an unchanged XI, putting an end to the speculation around the inclusion of World No. 2 off-spinner R Ashwin in the team after he missed the first two Tests. Kohl had insisted at the pre-match interaction with the press that India would not change a winning team unless there were injury concerns. Kohli conceded India were thinking about including Ashwin but wanted to retain the winning combination of 4 pacers and a spin-bowling all-rounder in Ravindra Jadeja.
