Watch top sports' news of the day in 100 seconds

"I would hate to see a player of his quality sitting in the reserves. In the West Indies I was very clear that he should open and had a chat with Kohli about it. This was his opportunity.

"Opening is about the mindset. You got to respect the new ball. A lot of guys in India should have opened in the last 20 years for the sake of team balance, but they didn't have the stomach for it.

"Who would have thought Virender Sehwag would average nearly 50 in Tests. But he conquered those first 20 minutes against the new ball. I don't think any other opener actually enjoyed opening like he did, Shastri said."