Had nothing to do with Nair’s exclusion, says skipper Kohli
FIRST TEST Captain puts the onus on selectors as India drop Oval Test halfcenturion Vihari for an extra bowler
RAJKOT: The Indian team will feature new faces when it takes the field for the first of the two Tests against West Indies at the SCA Stadium on Thursday. However, areas of concern, especially opening batting, remain.
India have picked a new opening pair in Prithvi Shaw and KL Rahul for the first Test after the selectors axed Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay. The team management has also included Shardul Thakur in the 12.
While skipper Virat Kohli looks to return to his preferred five-bowler strategy, questions continue to be raised on selection calls. The debutant in India’s last Test in England, Hanuma Vihari (56, 3/37 at The Oval) has been dropped apparently to accommodate a fifth bowler, as three specialist spinners in R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav made it to the final 12.
Vihari’s inclusion for The Oval Test had surprised everyone as he was picked ahead of original squad member Karun Nair despite joining the team only for the last two Tests as replacement. While Vihari retained his place in the squad for West Indies Tests, Nair was dropped without even getting a chance to play.
Asked about the controversy, Kohli said he has nothing to do it with the selection calls. “The selectors have already spoken about it and it is not my place to say. There are three selectors who are doing their job... So if a person has spoken about a certain thing, it should be cleared then. It shouldn’t be brought in here again,” the skipper said.
The India skipper was rested for Asia Cup due to fatigue. “It was mental and physical both (fatigue). Because of the intensity at which the two tours went – South Africa and England. People usually talk about workload but they don’t understand its concept. They refer to workload as the number of games played. That’s not workload.”
Kohli acknowledged that opening batting remains a concern. The Indian lower-order batting has also not contributed much on overseas tours. India have just two Tests against West Indies to sort out the problems before they embark on the tough tour of Australia later this year.
“We know as a team what are the areas to improve on. Definitely, if you look at sides who win Tests, contributions at the top and the contributions from the lower order are more important than what happens in the middle (order),” said Kohli.
Though the focus will be on openers, especially Shaw, Kohli’s deputy Ajinkya Rahane would like to get a big score. Rahane has gone without a century for a little over one year. On his home ground, No. 3 Cheteshwar Pujara too will look to pile on the runs.
The wicket had a greenish tinge two days before the Test and remained covered mostly on Wednesday.
While India, who haven’t lost a Test to West Indies since June 2002, head into this series as favourites, the visitors have done well in recent times. They have won three out of their last five Tests. Kraigg Brathwaite, Kieran Powell, Shai Hope and Shane Dowrich will carry the visitors’ hopes in batting, but West Indies will be without pacer Kemar Roach for the opening Test.