Perfectly skilled wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant will be preferred over more experienced Wriddhiman Saha in the opening Test of the four-match series versus England, Virat Kohli said on Thursday.
Kohli said at the pre-match press conference, “Rishabh Pant will start in the first Test. He is in good headspace and he has come along very nicely. He is working hard for the game.”
Pant’s contentious (89 not out) in the last Test in Brisbane has moved his team to an incredible 2-1 series win over Australia recently, coming days after he nearly saw India home with a fine 97 in the third match in the Sydney. Kohli is highly impressed with Pant’s performance.
“There is a good reason what he did in the Australia gives all of us hope going ahead.”
Giving a sign into the blend India may like in the impending matches against England, considered as one of the World’s most adjusted sides, Kohli said, “The emphasis will be on bowlers whocan likewise bat.”
Speaking about his deputy Ajinkya Rahane, who masterminded India’s noteworthy fight against come-from-behind series win in Australia after the standard commander’s takeoff for the introduction of his youngster, Kohli said two of them share a “extraordinary camaraderie”.
Incidentally, in 2016 the last Test match held at Chepauk was also India and England, when India won in the final session of the fifth day after England had scored 470 in their first innings.
