Disappointed after a washout in Bangalore, India are now gearing up for the third Test match which will be held in Nagpur from Wednesday. But it seems that Team India is a little undecided with their combinations, ahead of the match against South Africa.
Many raised their eyebrows after Amit Mishra was dropped, after he successfully removed AB de Villiers twice in the first Test, with the leggie replaced by Stuart Binny. But captain Kohli justified the move.
"I think you have to choose the all-rounder according to condition. You can't be stubborn about the ability," Kohli said in an interview to cricket.com.au on Friday.
"You have to consider who can do the right job in those conditions, because some people will be more effective. This team is about flexibility. We did not bowl Amit Mishra here. Of course, he's bowled well in the past few months. But he understood we needed someone like Stuart in these conditions. There's no set combination in this team. Everyone is ready to play at any stage and willing to perform for the team, which is a positive sign."
Kohli is also not bothered about Shikhar Dhawan's form, with the left-hander struggling for runs in this Freedom Series against South Africa. But Dhawan looked solid in the first innings of the second Test in Bangalore. Unfortunately, rain washed out the remaining Test match after Day 1 and Dhawan's desire to find form with his willow remained incomplete.
"If you call scoring two hundreds in three Test matches struggling, then I don't know what 'in-form' is," said Kohli.
"His last three matches, he has got a hundred in Galle, he has got a hundred in Bangladesh, unfortunately he got injured after and he played first Test match after that in Mohali. So let's not be too hard on someone because of two innings or three innings."
Kohli will be aware of the fact that South Africa have an outstanding record in Test matches away from home and no wonder they are the no. 1 Test side in the world.
If Kohli & co. can manage to beat the Proteas in the third Test match at Nagpur, then it willl give India a major boost of confidence. And Kohli will definitely no want to lose this opportunity of getting the better of South Africa, after the latter beats the hosts in both the ODI and T20 series prior to the Test matches.
