India captain Virat Kohli emphatically said “yes” when asked if the team management had asked for pitches akin to the ones his team is likely to encounter in South Africa.
“We get only two days after this series gets over before we fly to South Africa. We have no choice but to be in a game situation and think of what’s coming ahead. Had we got a month off ideally, we would have done a proper preparation in a camp-like scenario; we have to sort of make do with what we have.”
“As usual we are cramped for time, which I think we need to assess in future as well; We are very easily assessed once the team goes abroad, but people don’t look at how many days we have had to prepare before we go to a particular place. And everyone starts judging players when results come after the Test matches.”
“It should be a fair game wherein we get to prepare the way we want to and then we are entitled to be criticised. So we thought this was an ample opportunity for us to challenge ourselves. We want to embrace being in difficult conditions.
“I am not saying that everyone will go out and perform immediately, but if we can feel comfortable about it after one or two or three innings, someone will come good. And once you come good, you build on that confidence. It’s the same for the bowlers. Yes, we are looking at this as an opportunity.”
Kohli also reflected on the chances of playing two spinners overseas: “I can’t commit to that 100% when we play abroad because we need to look at the balance of the side as well. Obviously, those two guys (Ashwin and Jadeja) with their batting abilities are contenders to start a Test depending on the batsmen we are up against.
“We count them as all-rounders because they have proved themselves in different situations and made important contributions.”