Bengaluru: India Test captain Virat Kohli has said that there is no set combination in the team and that everyone is ready to put their hand up and perform whenever needed.
After winning the first of the three-match Test series, India came in with a huge boost in confidence here for the second but after the first day’s play the game got called off due to persistent heavy showers.
But leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who was responsible for removing world No. 1 Test batsman AB De Villiers twice in the first Test, was dropped and instead all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Stuart Binny were picked.
“I think you have to choose the all-rounder according to condition. You can’t be stubborn about the ability,” Kohli was quoted as saying by cricket.com.au on Friday as to why both all-rounders, Jadeja and Binny, were selected.
“You have to consider who can do the right job in those conditions, because some people will be more effective. This team is about flexibility. We did not bowl Amit Mishra here. Of course, he’s bowled well in the past few months. But he understood we needed someone like Stuart in these conditions.”
“Bengaluru does something in the last couple of days [of the match], and this is the feedback we got from the guys who have played here and bowled on this pitch. There’s no set combination in this team. Everyone is ready to play at any stage and willing to perform for the team, which is a positive sign,” he said.
India lead the four-match series 1-0 after the washout in Bengaluru, and now both teams head to Nagpur for the third Test starting on November 25.
The poor form of opener Shikhar Dhawan, however, is a concern for the Indians, but Kohli isn’t worried about the left-handers form pointing to the fact that he has scored tons against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in his last two Tests before the South Africa series.
“If you call scoring two hundreds in three Test matches struggling, then I don’t know what ‘in-form’ is,” said Kohli.
“His last three matches, he has got a hundred in Galle, he has got a hundred in Bangladesh, unfortunately he got injured after and he played first Test match after that in Mohali. So let’s not be too hard on someone because of two innings or three innings.”
Meanwhile, South Africa have added fast bowler Marchant de Lange to their squad for the final two Test matches in India as concerns remain over the fitness of attack spearhead Dale Steyn.
Steyn missed the washed-out second Test and is still working his way back from a groin injury ahead of the third match.
“At the moment we only have three fit seamers in Morne Morkel, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott, so with Dale still struggling with a groin injury, we decided to bring Marchant in as cover,” coach Russell Domingo said in a statement on Friday.
“Marchant’s biggest strength is pace, if the ball does start to reverse-swing his pace through the air brings him into the contest. Guys that can bowl at 150 km per hour will always be good value.”
The 25-year-old De Lange was part of the Twenty20 squad for the earlier part of the tour and has played in two Tests, the last coming against New Zealand in 2012.
