India vs Sri Lanka, 2nd Test, Day 1: Virat Kohli’s Comments on South Africa Tour Remain in Focus as Match Kicks Off in Nagpur - JPKee.com

New Delhi: What was surprising about Virat Kohli’s comments ahead of the second India-Sri Lanka Test in Nagpur wasn’t the content – he was perfectly justified in implying that the team’s schedule was cramped, that there was no specific time set aside for preparation ahead of the blockbuster tour of South Africa. What was surprising was the fact that he chose to make it public. These are views he is sure to have conveyed to the BCCI in private, but that he has now brought the media into the equation means it is more than just a suggestion.

Ahead of the first Test against Sri Lanka, when a pitch almost as green as the outfield first prompted talk that the tour was merely a glorified preparatory camp for the South Africa series, the reaction was diplomatic, along the lines of not looking too far ahead, that each game was being taken on its merit. However, these pretences were abandoned ahead of the second Test.

“Unfortunately we get only two days before we fly to South Africa after this series gets over,” lamented Kohli. “So we have no choice but to be in game situation and think of what’s coming ahead of us. Had we got a month off, ideally, we would have done a proper preparation in a camp sort of scenario but we have to make do with what we have. As usual, cramped for time, which I think we need to assess in future as well, because we very easily assess the team when we go abroad but we don’t look at how many days we have got to prepare before we go to a particular place to play.”

In this light, the decision to bring into the XI Rohit Sharma in place of the absent Bhuvneshwar Kumar was a curious one. Rohit missed the most of India’s bumper Test summer – his last appearance in Test whites came over a year ago, against New Zealand in Indore. Kohli, during toss, admitted Rohit was brought in as he hasn’t played a Test in a while. It meant India went in with the extra batsman, and four bowlers. India were experimenting – with combinations, with line-ups, with back-up options – ahead of South Africa. It was an audition for Sharmas, Rohit and Ishant. It was one too for R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, given that only one of them will likely be picked in the XI in South Africa.

But, what about the ongoing Test? Given that the pitch was supposed to aid batsmen a fair bit, why opt for a bowler less? Would the two pacemen – Umesh Yadav and Ishant – handle the workload? Would the move to hand Rohit more match time prove costly?

On the evidence so far, these fears were unfounded. If this was an audition, Kohli’s task hasn’t gotten any easier.

Ishant, with his tall frame, offers something to this attack that the rest of the pacemen cannot. He has, at times, struggled for discipline, but in Nagpur on Friday (November 24), he displayed plenty of that as well, returning 3 for 37 after relentlessly plugging away at a length.

The stars of the day, however, were the spinners. After the pacers did their bit in the first session and the wicket started taking spin as the day wore on, Ashwin and Jadeja relished being wanted once again after being reduced to bit-part players in the first Test. Their two-pronged attack built pressure on the Sri Lankan batsmen, disallowing them any release, and the two shared seven wickets between them – Ashwin returned 4 for 67 – he is now just four short of becoming the fastest to 300 Test wickets – while Jadeja registered figures of 3 for 56.

Sri Lanka were restricted to just 205 on a track deemed good for batting, leading Nic Pothas, the Sri Lanka coach, to lambast his batsmen. “The wicket has got no demons,” he said. “It hasn’t spun, it hasn’t seamed, (but) there were six straight ball dismissals. Ashwin and Jadeja got the wickets bowling stump to stump. At this level, you can’t be missing straight balls.

“In the last series (in Sri Lanka), the wickets spun. You are talking of the two top spinners of the world. It was a different kettle of fish. Here the wicket has not done anything. All that it did was it skid on a bit. It is a disappointing change room and the guys have set themselves high standards. They are going to be disappointed.”

Despite their evident excellence though, the fact remains that in South African conditions, India will have to choose between Ashwin and Jadeja. The latter walked into the press conference after play in Nagpur, and found himself at the receiving end of a flurry of questions on the tour of South Africa, and competition between him and Ashwin, the pressure created thereof.

“I can only control the controllable,” said Jadeja. “When I get an opportunity, I will try to do well. What is not in my control, there is no point thinking about it. When I get a chance to play in South Africa, I will try to do well. When I got a chance last time, I played second test after Ash played the first. That’s why I said that team’s combination will depend on composition of the opposition – number lefties or right-handers.”

In all, the Sri Lanka series might now openly be a preparatory one for South Africa – Pothas said he found nothing wrong in that – but as far as India are concerned, there are no answers just yet. Kohli might be irked by the cramped schedule, but he will be happy with this lovely problem of plenty.

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Author - Vikash Kumar