India captain Virat Kohli feels the performance in the drawn opening Test against England has prepared his team for tougher battles ahead though he expected a much better fielding effort from his side.
Kohli struck a 98-ball unbeaten 49 to help India save the game on day five.
"Good opportunity to find out new things about your game. Couldn't get a better chance to practice other aspects of your game (towards the end). It is important play against momentum sometimes, it helps you become a better team," said Kohli at the post match presentation.
He further said: "It is important to convince yourself you can negotiate what's thrown at you. We could have been much better on days one and two. We dropped five catches and that makes a huge difference in Test cricket.
"England are a side we are not going to take for granted. Good to get things done in the end. Need to correct the things we need to. As I said, England are a quality side their bowlers put constant pressure. We need to accept what happened," he added.
Rival captain Alastair, who slammed his 30th Test ton the second innings, said it was satisfying to put India under pressure right from the first game of the five-match series.
"It was really tough five days, good toss to win. In India if you score 530, you are always in the game. It was a good cricket wicket. We were relentless with the ball, we didn't let India score too quickly. To keep them to 480, we did well," said Cook.
He was also all praise his 19-year-old opening partner Haseeb Hameed, who scored a half-century on debut.
"The way Has (Hameed) played was brilliant. Wanted to make them score something they couldn't get (in the second innings). The wicket was flat for the first three days, and then turned more and more. He (Hameed) looked the real deal in the first innings, we certainly found a batsman there, he certainly looks a good one. Adil (Rashid) stepped up another level," said the England skipper.
‘We know how to draw Tests’
India skipper Virat Kohli on Sunday said the critics now can not question his team's ability to force a draw from tough situations as he dug his heels and led the side to a draw in the series-opener, here.
Kohli played a fighting unbeaten 49-run knock and together with Ravindra Jadeja (32) ensured that the team come out unscathed.
"Well, at least we know how to draw games now. Before that, some people obviously were skeptical about our side knowing how to draw games. We won games or we lost games," the captain said.
"I spoke with Ravindra Jadeja out there that it was an opportunity for both of us to improve on another aspect of the game. Maybe in Test cricket in the future, we will have this situation again. Maybe we will have to apply ourselves again and show character, show intent to get runs in between, but play percentage cricket, figuring out areas where you want to take ones or hit boundaries but at the same time be sure of your defense as well”, Kohli added.