INDIA captain Virat Kohli says his team are “hurting” after losing the third Test against England, but does not see the defeat as “a negative”.

England levelled the five-Test series with a thumping innings and 76-run victory on day four at Headingley.
After winning the toss and batting first, India were all out for 78, before England posted 438 in reply.

“When you’ve played for so long at this level you understand these things happen in cricket,” Kohli said.
He told BBC Test Match Special: “We didn’t have enough runs on the board and when you give too much away with the ball it’s very difficult to get back into the game.

‘Hurt propels you to correct the mistakes’
Kohli praised his team’s fightback in their second innings which helped India end day three on 215-2, but the tourists lost their remaining eight wickets for 68 runs in Saturday’s morning session.

“We did not give up yesterday, we gave ourselves a chance to make something out of this game and tried to at least make them bat again,” he said.
“But their consistency with the ball this morning put us under a lot of pressure and they bowled a lot of good balls.”

After the rain-affected first Test at Trent Bridge was drawn, England suffered a crushing final-day defeat at Lord’s in the second Test.
“Winning at Lord’s doesn’t guarantee you’ll win every game and after a loss it doesn’t guarantee you’ll have a collapse every game,” Kohli added.

“The guys in the dressing-room are disappointed and hurt and the word ‘hurt’ is very important because it propels you to correct the mistakes.”
‘People on the outside lose patience too quickly’

Kohli – who scored 55 in the second innings – also drew positives from the individual performance of Cheteshwar Pujara.
The under-pressure batsman had amassed only 71 in his previous five innings against England this summer, but hit a fluent 91 and shared a 99-run partnership with Kohli.

“People on the outside lose patience too quickly, but guys who have been in the group for so many years and done the job for you day in day you, you need to be patient with them,” Kohli said.

“If you push them against the wall too much then you’re really putting unnecessary pressure on them – when Pujara comes good, it makes us feel very good as a team.”
Kohli expects his team to “come out with more intensity” for the fourth Test which begins at The Oval on Thursday.

“When India comes to England it’s always going to be a blockbuster,” he said.
“You can expect a lot of exciting cricket to come in this series and we’re definitely not going to take this defeat as a negative.(BBC Sport)