Bullish Kohli justifies overlooking Kuldeep Yadav, backs Rahane as 'important Test batsman'

India were handed a massive drubbing in the opening Test of the four-match Test series against England in Chennai, but for the skipper Virat Kohli, it was just a game where they failed to execute their plans. He downplayed the magnitude of their first loss at home in four years and appeared bullish on the prospect of a comeback in the series from his side which he said has been doing great things in the recent past.

The team selection, especially picking the left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem in the place of Kuldeep Yadav who has been warming the bench for a very long period of time raised many questions about the consistency in decisions over team selection. 

Kuldeep last played a Test match against Australia in 2019 where he picked up a five-wicket haul at the SCG and his performance earned high praise from the head coach Ravi Shastri who called him the number one spinner in overseas conditions. Two years down the line, Kuldeep can’t find a place in the team even in the absence of Ravindra Jadeja or both Jadeja and Ashwin (in Brisbane).

Kohli was asked whether he considered in the hindsight, playing Nadeem who could not provide control to him and leaked too many runs from one end over Kuldeep who could have been more lethal in terms of wicket-taking options was a mistake.

Kohli freed himself and the team management from any regret of preferring Naddem over Kuldeep and he asserted that the team always knew the combination it wants to play with and that the result of the first Test won’t make much difference in the thought process of the team.

"Not really, not at all. When you playing two off-spinners, Kuldeep becomes more or less same kind of spinner taking the ball away. We were quite clear on what we wanted to play, what combination we wanted to play. There are no regrets whatsoever on that decision. Moving forward, we will think of combinations, which brings us variety as a bowling attack. And not one dimensional, turning away from the bat. These things are very important,” Kohli said in the post-match press conference.

The onus of saving the game was on the Indian batsmen on the fifth day but the lack of runs from the senior players such as Rahane, and Rohit along with a rare failure for Pujara in terms of staying st the crease made the case very weak for the hosts on the fifth-day pitch.

His deputy Rahane got a lot of flakes for getting out cheaply on the fifth day and failing in yet another home Test match. Rahane was bowled neck and crop by James Anderson for a two-ball-duck and social media was flooded with people questioning his place in the Indian Test team, especially at home. 

Kohli was belligerent in his defence of Rahane and rated him along with Pujara as the mainstays of the Indian Test team. He said that the team has trusted the qualities of Rahane and he has been an impact player for the side in the past in tough conditions. Kohli was unapologetic about the infinite backings Rahane has received from the team management over the last three-four years even while the Rahane has not been able to put brilliant performances on a consistent basis.

"Ajinkya Rahane is, I have said this many times in the past as well, along with Cheteshwar Pujara is our most important Test batsman and he is going to continue to be. We believe in his abilities, we have believed in his abilities for a long time now. He is an impact player,” Kohli added.

He reminded that Rahane stood up tall to lead the Indian batting order in the Boxing Day Test against Australia with a fighting hundred which eventually turned out to be a turning point of the series.

"In the MCG Test, he stood up and scored a hundred for his team when we wanted it the most. You can look at the number of innings and what happens from there on, the reality of the situation is we won the series in Australia,” Kohli further said.

“And here, there is just one test, two innings. Today, yes, you can put that innings aside. In the first innings, he wanted to score a boundary. It was a brilliant catch by Joe Root that got rid of him. If that had gone for a boundary and he had scored runs, we are not having this conversation.”

Kohli was asked how he could manage to bat so confidently and comfortably against the English bowlers in the second innings when his teammates struggled to cope up with the pitch conditions. 

He picked up a comment about Gill’s batting where it was said that the batsman from Punjab struggled in the second innings. Kohli has always been appreciative of Gill’s batting abilities and he did not let the opportunity of appreciating the class of Gill go by this time either. He asserted that the right-hander was the best batsman for Indian in this Test match.

The second Test of the series is slated to be played at the MA Chidambaram stadium in Chennai only and will begin on February 13. Kohli will be looking to bounce back strongly from this defeat and he has expressed full confidence on his teammates that they will be put this defeat behind them quickly.

Powered by Froala Editor