“The toss was vital, especially looking at the boundary that was quite short. I think it was 59m which coincidentally is the minimum required in an international match. Quite bizarre on a flat pitch. It’s crazy that things fall in place like that randomly,” Kohli said.
“It’s the first time we are experiencing this. If batsmen are able to reverse sweep, sweep you for a six on a 59m boundary you can’t do much as a spinner,” he added.
Winning the toss and batting ended up to be working out for England but the wrist spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, had a forgettable outing as they went for runs on Sunday.
India skipper also conceded that his side were not clinical with the bat on a flat pitch and failed to accelerate in their run chase.
"...we weren't clinical with the bat I suppose, because the wicket was flat. We should have accelerated and gotten closer, but they (England) bowled superbly," Kohli said after India's first defeat in the tournament which brought England back into the reckoning for a semifinal spot.
"If we were clinical with the bat, if the dismissals didn't happen at that time, the result could have been different. We had a decent chance, when they (Pant and Pandya) were in there to strike a few and get closer to the target and trigger panic in their (England) dressing room. We kept losing wickets and that doesn't help in a big chase," he added.
Asked about Mahendra Singh Dhoni being found wanting in his bid to accelerate towards the end of India's run chase, Kohli said, "It's up to discussions with the two guys who were in there. I think MS was trying really hard to get the boundary but it wasn't coming off.
"They (England) bowled in good areas and the ball was stopping, hence it was difficult to bat towards the end. We have to sit and assess and improve on things in the next game."
Kohli, who himself hit 66 off 76 deliveries, sought to play down the defeat, saying that his side were playing good cricket. India still have a good chance to qualify for the semifinals with 11 points from seven matches.
"Every team has lost a game or two here or there. We are still playing good cricket, and the morale is still the same in the dressing room. We just have to brush this aside as professional cricketers, learn from it and move forward," he said.
"You just have to accept that the opposition played a better game on the day. They were just more clinical in terms of their execution of their plans."