"We have been keenly watching and supporting them" - Virat Kohli hails Indian athletes at Olympics 

Indian captain Virat Kohli has revealed that the team has been keenly following the progress of the country's athletes at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics. Kohli said he and his players are extremely proud of the athletes competing in Tokyo irrespective of whether they've secured medals for India.

India have won two medals at the Olympics thus far. Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu claimed silver in the women’s 49kg category while PV Sindhu won bronze in the women’s singles badminton event.

On Tuesday, the Indian men’s hockey team went down to Belgium 2-5 in the semi-finals. They will face Germany for the bronze medal.

At a press conference ahead of the first Test against England, Kohli was asked whether the Indian team had been following the Olympics and he replied in the affirmative.

“We all have been keenly following (the Olympics). In Durham, at breakfast, we had big screens and televisions, which were always running all the Olympic events. And especially our athletes, when they were performing, we were all keenly watching," Kohli said.

"The whole country, including all of us, are super proud of our medal winners and also the people, who have gone far in the competition, who might not have won medals but who have competed and given their best. We have been keenly watching and supporting them.”

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— Pvsindhu (@Pvsindhu1) August 2, 2021

"We are absolutely fine and happy with where we are placed" - Virat Kohli

India’s preparations for the Test series have been hampered by injuries to Shubman Gill (ruled out of series) and Mayank Agarwal (out of the first Test). However, Kohli asserted that India have the depth to overcome such setbacks.

Refusing to divulge any details about the playing XI for the first Test, the Indian captain said he was "happy" with how things are shaping up.

"We will announce the XI tomorrow before we go for the toss, so you can know who is opening with Rohit. We are absolutely fine and happy with where we are placed."

Kohli also admitted India need to learn from the mistakes they made on their last tour when they allowed England to make a comeback after having them on the ropes on multiple occasions.

"Of course, as a team, we look to improve the things we have not done well. And that is one aspect of the game we need to get better at, and that is understanding how to control the damage when things are not going well," he added. "That's what Test cricket is all about, you cannot have all sessions go your way. We know exactly what we need to do and it all boils down to execution."

Just 1⃣ sleep away from the series opener ⌛️#TeamIndia #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/aXuLl3HvQF

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 3, 2021

India are seeking their first Test series win in England since 2007. The five-match series gets underway in Nottingham from Wednesday, August 4.