It has been a little over three years that Virat Kohli has been leading India in the longest format of the game. In those three years, there hardly came a match, let alone a series when Virat Kohli termed his team a settled lot. He always believed in horses for courses. His record of fielding the same playing XI only once in successive Tests in his tenure of 41 games screams out as proof. Come Thursday, when India start the first of the two Tests against the touring West Indies, the chop and change are certain to continue but for the first time, Kohli has used the term ‘settled’ to describe his Test team.
"Apart from the top-order getting cemented, I don't think with these Two Test there is a lot we are looking at. Rest of the things are quite settled," Kohli said in the pre-match press conference.
Yes, there is definitely a change in the top-order. The third choice opener – KL Rahul - before the England tour is now the first to get a tick beside his name and his partner is an 18-year-old Mumbai batsman, who made his first-class debut barely 11 months ago. But unlike the other changes Kohli made in the playing XI when it was least expected, this change at the top was always on the cards due to a sudden drought of runs from Murali Vijay’s bat and Dhawan’s shortcomings in giving India a decent start in overseas conditions.
"...you need your best eleven on the park. In the past, most of the changes have been made in the bowling combination and people have conveniently taken otherwise. The bowlers that have sat out have never felt they have been hard done by," said Kohli.
"The motive has always been to pick the best eleven and we have hardly tinkered with the batting order barring a couple of guys who have not been in form. We have utilised the conditions to the maximum wherever we have gone," he said referring to the bowlers' good work in South Africa and England.
In another first, India have named a 12-man squad on the eve of the Test match, which surprisingly, has no jaw-dropping name. Finally, Kohli brought smiles on the faces of those playing super selector. And if Kohli’s comments were to be believed, then that smile might remain for the next Test too.
"We have a change at the top of the order. We will give these guys enough space and enough chances to feel comfortable at that position. We want them to be confident of what they are doing. The lower-order is all about contribution, there is no change needed there. Rishabh (Pant) is new but Ashwin and Jadeja have performed in so many games at home they just need to replicate it abroad,” said Kohli, giving strong indications that India might play with the same playing XI in the two West Indies Tests."