Captain Kohli positive after rain-affected Test, says India needs to be patient with Dhawan
INDIA'S TEST CAPTAIN Virat Kohli expressed his disappointment after rain gods stopped the Indian Test juggernaut on home soil at Bengaluru on Wednesday. But the skipper insists rain hasn't dampened the spirit in the dressing room and that the momentum is still with the hosts.
The Bengaluru Test that was called off after four days of incessant rain was the second shortest ever in India, with only 81 overs being bowled, all on Day 1. For what was supposed to be a fairytale 100th Test for AB de Villiers, a drawn Test was a rather unfortunate end. This was also the 11th shortest Test in the history of the game. As for India, their record run of 7 straight Test wins at home since 2013 was also put to an abject end by the merciless drizzles.
For South Africa, a drawn Test was a welcome relief, especially after the way their batsmen batted in the last three innings. India were 80/0 at stumps on Day 1, trailing by just 154 runs, and it looked like South Africa were headed for another big upset.
While Proteas captain Hashim Amla appeared relieved, the Indian captain publicly expressed his frustration with the outcome of the game, but also maintained that his team's intensity is still intact.
“We had a really positive day one, bowled the No. 1 side out in under three sessions, bowled them out on a decent batting wicket, there were no demons in the wicket. And we batted pretty well of whatever time we had in the middle. Thinking about the weather can put you off which the team has not done, so I would like to give credit to the guys to still stay in the zone,” he told The Indian Express.
“The second and third day were especially were very frustrating because we had a very good first day. The toughest task is to set up a Test match. The covers come off and the rain falls again. I think that was something that was disappointing,” he said referring to Day 4 that gave them some hope of play.
Kohli also believed that the team would have tried to put pressure on South Africa, had the weather and time permitted even a couple of days' play.
The first day of the Bengaluru Test also saw a major positive in the context of the current scenario, with opener Shikhar Dhawan coming into his own and getting some quick runs after his Mohali pair debacle. The southpaw looked at ease during his unbeaten knock of 45 that included seven boundaries. Though, Kohli was quick to address Dhawan's 'form' issue.
“If you call scoring two hundreds in three Test matches struggling then I don’t know what ‘in-form’ is! His last three matches, he has got a hundred in Galle, he has got a hundred in Bangladesh, unfortunately he got injured after and he played first Test match after that in Mohali,” he said.
Kohli also insisted that India needs to be patient with someone like Shikhar, who is an 'impact player' in the team.
"When he gets going he wins you the game that is a surety. I don’t think he has been out of form at all,” Kohli explained.
Meanwhile, Amla accepted that there weren't many positives for the Proteas except for the scoreline that didn't read 2-0. In their last three innings, most South African batsmen succumbed to the lack of spin rather than spin itself, unable to pick straight deliveries, and got out playing irresponsible shots, none of which stays in Amla's memory.
With rain having washed out an entire Test match, Amla and Co. will have plenty of time for homework before the third Test that is slated to begin on November 25 in Nagpur.
