Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli attended the press conference ahead of the first India vs New Zealand ODI to be played at the Wankhede Stadium on October 22. While addressing the media personnel, Kohli cleared the role of Ajnkya Rahane in the squad and also revealed the reason behind the exclusion of regular spinners of the team R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja.
Speaking about Rahane’s role in the team, Kohli cleared that he is the third opener of the team and has earned the opportunity himself. Kohi said,
“He’s (Rahane) definitely grabbed his opportunities as the third opener. As I mentioned there was K L (Rahul) as well competing for the spot. But Jinx has performed well, stood up and taken his chances. That’s how the dynamics of a team work when you have four guys who play in a similar position and obviously one of them will have to miss out as only two can play in the XI.”
In the press conference, Kohli also answered the question that why Ashwin and Jadeja have been kept out of the team. Kohli said,
“We need to find our best bowling combination before we reach the World Cup stage. We always had in mind to bring spinners into play. We honestly did not think of playing the two together but they are so good together, it is tempting to play them in every game. Ashwin and Jadeja have played limited overs cricket for last 6-7 years regularly. These youngsters have stepped up and it creates a strong pool for us before the World Cup.”
#TeamIndia captain @imVkohli cannot resist playing his two young wrist spinners at one go #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/MSr5LrIEgZ
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 21, 2017
“Despite all the talk which is going around, everyone understands the team dynamics going ahead,” Kohli added.
The more the merrier. Captain @imVkohli more than happy to have a strong pool of bowlers #TeamIndia #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/UUmHdVphLX
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 21, 2017
On KL Rahul not being a part of the team, Kohli said,
“In this series, Dinesh has come in for K L. We felt K L, because he opens mostly, we don’t want to have a situation like Rahanewas going through in between, having to play in the middle order forcefully because of what the top order was doing. We thought that it is better than K L gets game time at the first-class level, so we have got in Dinesh, who has always played in the middle order and is more comfortable and aware of how to bat in the middle order. We need to bring in guys who have the ability and have done well in domestic cricket and India A, and track their performances and give them chances accordingly.”
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