KL Rahul will play: Kohli

“We had it pretty clear in our minds that KL is our No.1 choice along with Vijay. And when he is fit at any stage when he comes back into the side, we are going to start with him. So, that was the whole idea behind it. We were waiting for him to recover as soon as possible and in the meantime, Gautam got the chances that he got and he played well in different situations. But that’s how the team combinations go — if you want to play with the combination that you think has the best balance, as far as the team management is concerned and the captain is concerned we want to go with that. We were very clear in our heads that as soon as KL Rahul is fit, we will call him back into the squad,” 

Kohli said at the pre-match press conference here. Talking about how important a role toss plays in India, Kohli said it was definitely an advantage to win the toss in the subcontinent. “We tried to make sure in the last match that all our bases are covered because toss is not in our control. Yes, you get a little advantage initially if you win the toss, but it’s not that you will be put on the backfoot and will be a disadvantage (if you lose the toss). I think toss has its importance but it does not bear much relevance in Test cricket because whichever team plays well and keeps up the pressure can bounce back any time and can dominate the match unlike ODI where dew factor and all such things play a part. Toss has its importance but you cannot define the result of the game because of that,” the 28-yearold skipper said. 

Kohli hoped the pitch at the ACA-VDCA Stadium would assist the slower bowlers. “Generally, in Vizag, the pitch has always helped the spinners. So, I expect the pitch to play like the one-dayer here (against New Zealand), when the spinners got a few wickets. But at the same time, the quick bowlers also had some assistance early on. It’s a wicket where spinners will find it nice to bowl on and expect the same going into the game. As I mentioned in Rajkot as well, I was surprised to see that much grass on the wicket. I hope it’s not the case this time around because we want to focus on our strengths and play the cricket that we have as a team at home and put the pressure on the opposition,” he added.