India captain Virat Kohli said on Wednesday that Shardul Thakur’s injury-enforced absence will not force India “to plug in another guy who can give us some runs” in the second Test at Lord’s. The priority, he said, would be to field a combination that can take 20 wickets.
“For us, it’s about finding that perfect balance,” Kohli said in a virtual media interaction. “But if someone like Shardul is not available, then we’ll definitely first think how to pick up 20 wickets ... and we’ll be very comfortable after how the first Test went.”
Kohli said Shardul, preferred in the series-opener for his additional utility with the bat, “should be okay for the third Test” after suffering a “myofascial strain on his left hamstring”.
On Trent Bridge’s pace-friendly track, India went with four seamers, bolstering its batting with Ravindra Jadeja, the lone spinner, at No. 7 and Shardul at No. 8. It will be interesting to see whether off-spinner R. Ashwin, unfortunate to have missed out last week, or Ishant Sharma, who was instrumental in India’s win at Lord’s in 2014, is included in the XI on Thursday.
Kohli stressed that Jadeja coming good with the willow was one of the biggest gains from Nottingham. “The good thing is Jadeja has got runs in the first game already so he’ll go into the second game confident. That already makes our batting a bit deeper. Lower-order contributed with the bat as well,” Kohli said.
“Shardul brings in more batting ability but having said that, from the batsmen’s point of view, we are well-placed because [Cheteshwar] Pujara, Jinks [Rahane] and myself, we did not score too many. Every game is an opportunity for the other batters to step up as well. Rohit [Sharma] and K.L. [Rahul] played really well. We are very comfortable where we are placed as a batting unit and we don’t feel we might be a batsman short if Shardul doesn't play.”
Kohli also expressed his displeasure over India losing points in the new World Test Championship cycle for maintaining a slow over-rate in Nottingham.
“You don’t want to be that far behind in the game that you are not able to catch up and cover your overs in time which could cost the points, which are very, very crucial,” he said.