India Vs West Indies: Team selection isn't in my hands: Virat Kohli on Karun Nair's exclusion

Rajkot, Oct 3: India captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday (October 3) cleared he has nothing to do with the team selection and that he along with the team management look to give their best with whatever squad the selection committee comes up with.

A day before the opening Test match against West Indies in Rajkot, Kohli addressed the media persons and talked about team's preparation. When asked why was Karun Nair dropped from the Test squad without being given a game, the Indian skipper said, "Selectors have already spoken about it and it is not my place to say. There are selectors doing their job. You can conveniently merge everything and make it a circle where everyone is doing their job and not focusing on what people are saying on the outside."

"If a person has spoken about it already, it should not be brought in here again. The chief selector has already spoken to the player of what I know. I don't think I need to comment on that.

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The 29-year-old further added, "Selection is not my job. As a team, we are doing what we are supposed to. Everyone should be aware of their respective jobs."

Dismissing the perception that captain and the rest of the team management have a significant say in selection matters, Kohli said, "People should also realise that it is not a joint thing everywhere. That is the confusion right now where people are combining everything and thinking everything is happening from one place which is not true."

Meanwhile, the team management has announced the playing XII for the first Test match and cleared that young Prithvi Shaw will make his India debut on October 4.

Eyebrows were raised when Nair wasn't included in India's two-test squad against West Indies. India's second ever triple centurion in Tests, Karun was picked in the original squad for the England series but once the team was changed for the last two Tests, it was Hanuma Vihari, who played and impressed everyone with a gutsy half-century and handy off-breaks.

It is widely believed that the Indian team management were not happy with Karun's inclusion in the Test set-up. Karun, in a recent interview, went on record stating that neither the team management nor the selectors have communicated with him. However, India's chief selector MSK Prasad said Karun was clearly intimated as to why a certain decision was taken.

"I personally spoke to Karun soon after the selection of the Test team against the West Indies and also told the ways to make a comeback. The selection committee is very very clear with regard to the communication process," Prasad was quoted as saying.

Prasad explained that his colleague Devang Gandhi had spoken to Karun in England when he was not being picked in the playing XI. "Having said that we are very clear and candid in our communication process. My colleague Devang Gandhi spoke to Karun Nair at length in England to keep him motivated and wait for his opportunities," Prasad said.