Virat Kohli blasts "bizarre" ground dimensions after England beat India at Edgbaston

Kohli called the situation "crazy" and "bizarre" as England hit 13 sixes in their innings, noticeably targeting the shorter side of the playing area

Virat Kohli criticised the dimensions of the Edgbaston playing surface after India were beaten comfortably by England in Birmingham on Sunday.

With the pitch chosen for the game being off-centre, it meant that there was a short boundary on one side of the ground and a longer one on the other, while England went into the game having won nine consecutive ODIs at the venue.

Kohli called the situation "crazy" and "bizarre" as England hit 13 sixes in their innings, noticeably targeting the shorter side of the playing area. India, on the other hand, managed to clear the ropes just once - off the bat of MS Dhoni, but even that blow only came when the game had effectively ended as a contest.

Speaking after the game, Kohli said: "The toss was vital, especially looking at the boundary that is so short - it is a coincidence that it just falls under the limitations of the shortest boundary you can have in the tournament.

"Quite bizarre on a flat pitch; it's the first time we've experienced that. It's crazy that things fall in place like that randomly. I don't think the toss was a massive factor, but we should have been more clinical.

"If batsmen are able to sweep and reverse-sweep you for six on a 59-metre boundary, then there's not much you can do as a spinner. There's no room to think about whether you're going to get out or not, and one side was about 82 metres. With one short boundary, it was going to be very hard to contain runs.

"They were going towards 360 at one stage and we did quite well to pull things back. In the end, I think 10 or 15 less would have been better because we had them under a bit of pressure. But Ben [Stokes] played a really good innings."

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