It’s important to make KL feel secure: Kohli
Colombo, Aug. 2: Fitagain opener KL Rahul is all set to make a comeback to the Indian team for the second Test against Sri Lanka starting on Thursday, according to Virat Kohli.
Rahul was out of the first Test due to viral fever and needed hospitalisation for a couple of days. Shikhar Dhawan used the opportunity to hit a match-winning 190 in the first innings while Abhinav Mukund hit a career-best 81 in the second innings.
In all likelihood, it will be Abhinav Mukund, who will have to sit out.
Kohli is confident that Rahul will come out stronger.
“That phase you have to come back, you need to get stronger. He has really stuck it out in that phase. It’s been hard for him, we all know that, because he was batting so well and then he was out because of this.
“It is very important to make him feel secure and he deserves it because he has given us those big performances when the team has required the most. He is a guy that needs to be backed and we as a team, as management and me as captain all back him 100 per cent,” he added.
Asked about among Dhawan who or Mukund will be axed from the playing XI, his answer indicated that it will be the Tamil Nadu left-hander, who in all likelihood, will warm the benches.
“I feel in a situation like this, you need to sit down and think which player has had more impact on the game. Who has been able to sort of make that difference in the game straightaway? It all depends on who has had a better game, to be honest,” said Kohli.
Meanwhile, no other changes are expected for India, as the wicket laid out at the SSC is pretty hard with a fine sprinkling of green. It is not quite similar to the one in 2015, which was a proper green-top pitch and assisted pacers throughout the game.
“I had a look at the wicket yesterday, I haven’t seen it today yet. It looked pretty nice and hard underneath with good covering of grass. The last time around as well, we thought it was a great wicket for Test cricket,” Kohli observed.
The Indian captain assessed it as a result-oriented wicket.
“It is a wicket that you will get a result for sure. That excites us, it’s something that we look forward to as a team,” said Kohli. — PTI