“He had an injury in Kanpur which all of you are aware of”. He was asked to play his natural game but at the same time, not try anything flashy. “Since the match was happening very close to Vizag, it’s good to have him in the squad”. As I said, England are a quality side and their bowlers put constant pressure. He has played here before.
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“Obviously in a series where you are playing against a top side, there is very less room for grooming people as such, if you get what I am saying”, Kohli said. Similarly, we have Rahul, who is now available.
“The way the 11 guys played in the last game was outstanding, so it’s whether you look at rotation or stick with the team”, said Cook. The remaining three wickets – centurions Joe Root, Moeen Ali and Ben Stokes – were taken by pacers.
While England might want to consider the possibility of bringing James Anderson in place of Chris Woakes who has a small bowling niggle, they otherwise look sorted to take on India with their batting depth and bowling variety.
I don’t see why they haven’t got one anyway. “Umesh and Shami not only bowled well at Rajkot but also against New Zealand, so did Bhuvi, all the fast bowlers are doing well”.
Both India and England as oppositions have got a feel of themselves in this series and will make the necessary adjustments coming into the second match. The Indian head coach also insisted that the team selection would be made only after seeing the pitch. It was a good wicket to bat on.
But those memories, as well as those of their fourth-innings wobble, when they lost six wickets in 52.3 overs while batting to save the Test, seem to be firmly in the past for India, at least according to Kumble.
India were in dire straits as English bowlers left them wobbling at 118/5 at one stage on Day 5 at Rajkot.
Kohli is expecting the pitch for the second Test in Vizag to help the spinners more than it did in Rajkot.
India finally tasted success when leg-spinner Amit Mishra took a sharp return catch as Hameed tried to go for a slog sweep.
‘We need to take those half-chances, and be more focused in the field. Despite England’s improvement from their Bangladesh tour, Kohli believed the England spinners never outperformed the Indians. “He has got 450 Test wickets”. We will select team as per our strategy. We will play according to the pitch.
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“In the mean time, Gautam (Gambhir) got the chances that he got, and he played really well in hard situations, but that’s how the team combinations go”, said Kohli.
