We will work on rotation of fast bowlers: Kohli

India captain Virat Kohli vowed to continue with five specialist bowlers despite the team’s big defeat against England in the third Test but hinted at a rejig in attack for the fourth game by factoring in the workload of the speed merchants.

In a combative mood, while answering the questions, Kohli dismissed the idea of playing an extra batsman, something that the great Sunil Gavaskar has been constantly advocating on air. “You are talking about a pure batsman?” he countered when asked if he would play a sixth specialist batsman.

“I don’t believe in that balance and I have never believed in that balance because either you can try and save a defeat or you can try and win a game. And we have drawn games in the past with a similar number of batters,” the India skipper was very curt with his reply.

“If your top-six (including wicketkeeper) don’t do the job, there is no guarantee that the extra guy can bail you out. You have to take pride in taking responsibility and doing the job for the team. If you don’t have the ability or resources to take 20 wickets in a Test, then you are already playing for two results and that is not how we play,” he added. India will play the fourth Test at the Oval from September 2 and at least one, if not two, among Ishant Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammed Shami could be rested.

“That is bound to happen as it is a logical and sensible thing to do. We don’t want to push individuals to a place where they break down. And, such a conversation is important.” As of now, it can be safely stated that veteran pace bowler Ishant would be benched after a poor show in the Leeds Test.

Learned wobble seam delivery from Jimmy: Robinson

England pacer Ollie Robinson said that his legendary teammate James Anderson helped him in tweaking his wobble grip ball technique and added that it gave him a perfect result in the third Test against India. “I noticed Jimmy holding his wobble grip slightly differently. I was holding it from the other side, so I spoke to him and tried to practice it in the nets,” said Robinson after his man-of-the-match performance.

“It went quite nicely, so I tried it in the game and it worked quite well. It is something that I need to practice a bit more. This learning opportunity is invaluable for me.”