Virat Kohli Defends Deputy Rahane, Pant & Pujara After Series Loss To NZ

In the series, team India Test deputy Ajinkya Rahane and Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara also failed to score runs. However, Kohli said that one cannot blame any individual

Photo: AFP

Christchurch: Team India captain Virat Kohli on Monday defended his deputy Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant's poor batting form after facing a humiliating 2-0 series loss against New Zealand. Team management preferred Pant over Saha in both Tests against NZ but the Delhi-lad scored just 60 runs in both games with 25 being his highest score in first Test. "We have given a lot of chances to Rishabh, you need to figure out when is the right time to give someone a chance. I don't see anyone taking their place for granted in this team, no one here has come in thinking that I am going to play every game," Kohli told reporters after the match. "Rishabh has worked very hard behind the scenes, so we thought of giving him a chance in this series. We thought he will come good in this series, but as a collective unit, we did not show a good batting performance," he added. In the series, team India Test deputy Ajinkya Rahane and Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara also failed to score runs. However, Kohli said that one cannot blame any individual. "Firstly, Rahane is one of those players who has been solid for us in Test cricket. It is about impact performances and he has played some crucial knocks. You also have to figure out as to how many guys average more than 40 in your team. Few games here and there if you don't score runs, doesn't mean you are a bad player. There are no issues there," Kohli said. "In the Australia series, Pujara was the standout player. You cannot single out anyone. We have an aim of scoring big runs, it can happen with everyone scoring 50 or 60 or with one guy scoring 150 as Pujara did in Australia. In our team, we work as a collective unit," he added. New Zealand whitewashed India in the series 2-0 and moved to the third spot in the World Test Championship standings with 180 points. India is placed at the top spot with 360 points from nine matches.