Kohli in favour of playing five bowlers

21st July (CRICKETNMORE) - Indian test captain Virat Kohli made it clear that he prefers playing five bowlers in Tests. Speaking at a media conference on the eve of India’s first Test of a four-match series against the West Indies, Kohli said: “I am always in the favour of playing five bowlers because if you play more batsmen, you can score 700 runs in a Test but that doesn’t help in any way. You need to take 20 wickets to win a Test match. So our top five batsmen, plus the wicketkeeper, will have to take responsibility and raise a big score so that we can bowl them out twice.

“Even if we don’t put on a big score, we need to get enough runs so that we don’t need to bat for long the second time. This has been our mindset for the last two seasons and we want to start the series with that same mindset that our bowling should be strong enough to take 20 wickets,” he added. Also Read What MS Dhoni said ahead of West Indies series

About Team Combination

“We have a combination in our mind, but I cannot really disclose that now. But we have learnt from the past after playing in Australia and Sri Lanka. We have learnt that we need to attack from the first Test itself and set the tone for the series. Therefore our strongest bowling unit needs to play and as a batting line-up, we need to take responsibility.”

“Basically, we will look to go with horses for courses. We specialise in choosing people according to the way the wicket is going to behave, especially on the third and fourth day. It’s good to have a lot of options. You can pick the best side… The best part is that everyone’s bought into the idea. It’s not that hard to inform people that they are not playing, because eventually it’s for the larger reason… To make the team win.”

“The fifth bowler is important in Test cricket. Outside the off stump line will not work. You need to bowl on the stump line.

About the wicket

“The grass on the pitch is very important to bind the surface, but I think the surface looks really dry and soft. It’s not as hard as some of the other surfaces in West Indies. The wicket is no different from what we play back home, so I think it will be a decent batting wicket. There won’t be much bounce. Looking at how the wicket is going to behave, as I said, on Days III and IV, which is very important to determine the result of the Test match… So we have some plans in mind.” 

About Mohammed Shami, who is making a comeback from injury

“Shami was unfortunately injured while he was having a great season. He bowled well in Australia and in the World Cup, and in fact he has bowled well wherever he has gone. He got injured after that and was on a massive break.

“But now he is back and he is bowling very well. He has the ability to get batsmen out at any stage of the game which is very pleasing in Test cricket and important for a captain. So Shami being back in the side obviously gives us a lot of options as he can bowl with the new and old ball, bowl reverse swing, and he can come round the wicket, use bouncers and use his pace well. I think as a fast bowler he is a complete package.

About Team Openers

“Shikhar is a very dominant player and can dominate sessions and bring you into the Test match, especially in conditions like here in the West Indies. You saw how he played in Sri Lanka, he scored a very quick hundred, but got injured unfortunately.

“You can’t count out a guy like Shikhar because of a couple of innings here and there. So we need to give guys a decent run, and know that if something goes wrong, we have a quality player like Rahul waiting in the wings,” Virat said.

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Source - Press Conference