‘Have Jadeja, will not miss Pandya’
SYDNEY: India captain Virat Kohli Friday said he is not too stressed about the possibility of a ban on all-rounder Hardik Pandya for his “inappropriate” comments on women as the side has a ready replacement in Ravindra Jadeja.
On a high after the maiden Test series triumph on Australian soil, India have been hit by an unsavoury off-field controversy due to Pandya and K L Rahul’s controversial comments on women on a TV show. The two have already been banned pending inquiry.
“We played in India against the West Indies with a finger spinner and a wrist spinner. So it’s good that we have someone like Jadeja who can do the allrounder’s role if a scenario like that occurs,” Kohli said on the eve of the first ODI against Australia.
“So we are not too stressed as a team (about the Pandya situation) because you’ll always have things that you can do in terms of creating that balance for the side. And hence, we keep players who can provide balance with bat and ball as a backup anyway,” he added.
Kohli has distanced the team from the controversy by saying that the side does not stand by the duo on the issue. “I don’t think we will have too much of trouble if we have to change our combinations. We are pretty comfortable as a side and any combination that we go in with,” he said.
Kohli said he is pleased with the current team’s combination and there isn’t too much room for tinkering with this squad in the build-up to the ODI World Cup in England starting May 30.
“The fact we have not many games left before the World Cup and hence we want to play the side that more or less will feature in the World Cup.
The exceptional case of
Jasprit Bumrah being rested is purely because of the workload in the Test series.
“But apart from that I don’t think combination-wise we are going to look to tinker too much,” he said.
However, Kohli did admit that form and fitness could be decisive for a couple of spots. “...a couple of spots which might need rectification will be looked at but apart from that the idea is to make that combination and t hat t eam play together for the whole period left before the World Cup,” said Kohli.