Flayed for doling out ‘rank turner’ on same venue against South Africa last year, India captain says convincing victory against England proves that team doesn’t depend on surfaces for results
Almost a year back, it was here that Virat Kohli was criticised for asking to dole out a rank turner to beat the World No. 1 South African team.
Whether or not the young India skipper actually made such a request isn't fully known but one thing that's clear is his eagerness to show the cricket world that he "likes to play positive cricket with an aggressive mindset".
On Saturday, when Kohli lost the toss and was expectedly given the task of playing last on the same turf in which a Test ended inside three days last year, he quietly got down to his job at hand than showing any negative expressions on his face.
He wanted to prove that his team's victories –five out of six over the last couple of months – have been often undermined because they are dismissed as having come on home grown dust bowls.
"I think it's exactly been 12 months when I was asked about us playing on unfair pitches and the question has turned itself," said Kohli after his team's eight-wicket win in the third Test against England on Tuesday.
Kohli was obviously referring to the first Test against South Africa at the same venue last November, which India won by 108 runs. The highest score by either team in that game was 201.
"This was a perfectly good wicket for cricket. If you talk about the pace bowlers, they rushed in and put in the effort and they got the results. It was a wicket where if you persisted long enough, you get the results that you want. I felt that we did that pretty well to get the result our way," said the India skipper.
Kohli praised his makeshift opener, Parthiv Patel, for showing such positive intent in both the innings. Asked if Patel could stick on as a back-up opening option even if Wriddhiman Saha returns for the Mumbai Test starting on December 8, Kohli broke into a smile.
"That's actually a good headache, to be honest. You never know, there are all kinds of possibilities. We'll see what happens in the next few days. We'll take a call accordingly," Kohli said.
Mohali has given Team India a renewed assurance about its late order batting prowess. At one stage in the first innings, India were struggling at 156/5 before the late-order batsmen rallied to take them to 417.
"The first two days of the game were exactly what the team wants to do as a Test team," said Kohli, adding: "When you are put in trouble after losing the toss on a good wicket, the bowlers stand up. Then, on Day Two, you are 156/5 and your lower-order steps up. So those two days, and the third day, were very pleasing for me as a captain."
Kohli specially singled out pacer Mohammed Shami for praise for coming back after a knee injury in such strong manner after 15 months.
"Yes, Shami is a better bowler since his return. He's stronger, because he had to train that extra bit because it was a knee injury and one leg was weaker than the other, because he couldn't do anything with it. If you see throughout these three games, he's someone who has really rushed in.
"Even Umesh for that matter, they both have bowled over 145 kmph consistently. On these kind of pitches to not lose heart and keep coming in and running in and bouncing guys speaks a lot of their character. I'm only waiting to play on pitches that assist them a little bit and it'll be nice to see what they can do there," Kohli said with a chuckle again.
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