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With Saha being fit, who will Virat Kohli replace in the India playing 11? Skipper answers!

India skipper Virat Kohli said wicketkeeper batter Wriddhiman Saha has recovered from his neck niggle, adding a bit of intrigue to the question as whom Kohli replace in the Playing 11. Find the answer here.

Wriddhiman Saha

Mumbai, December 2: India skipper Virat Kohli on Thursday (December 2) informed that wicketkeeper batter Wriddhiman Saha has recovered from his neck niggle, adding a bit of intrigue to the question as whom Kohli replace in the Playing 11 on Friday (December 3).

During the fifth day of the first Test against New Zealand, in Saha's absence, KS Bharat had donned the wicket-keeping gloves.

If Saha indeed plays on Friday, it is speculated that Kohli might come in for either Mayank Agarwal or Shubman Gill with in all likelihood the Bengal batsman getting a promotion as opener.

"Wriddhiman Saha is now fit and he has recovered from his neck niggle. We will discuss the combination in a bit based on weather and pitch conditions," said Kohli on the eve of the second Test.

With Shreyas Iyer becoming the first Indian debutant to score a century and half-century in his debut Test at Kanpur last week, dropping him would be a little difficult.

The poor form of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara has made the choice all the more difficult on who should go out of the XI to make way for Kohli.

"You have to understand the situation of where the team is placed, you have to understand where individuals stand. You have to communicate well, speak to the individuals and approach them in a way, explain things clearly.

“We have made changes in the past looking at combination, we have explained to individuals and they have understood our mindset behind going in with certain combination," said Kohli.

"It is not a difficult thing to do, there is collective trust and belief within the group. Along the way, there are ups and downs, but we understand that as sportspersons.

“At the end of the day, we all prioritise the team first and this is something we have done consistently. As a Test team, we have backed the set of players who have done the job for the team in the last 5-6 years and we will continue to do that.

“There have always been players on who we have relied upon and they have done the job for the team," he added.

Kohli also explained why he started to practice at the Cricket Club of India (CCI) in Mumbai for the Test series against New Zealand even when he had taken some time off from the game after spending six months in bio-bubbles.

The second Test between India and New Zealand will begin on Friday at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai with the two-match series being locked at 0-0.

"It was just to stay in the rhythm of playing red-ball cricket. The idea was to get repetition and volume which is important in Test cricket, so it is just about getting into the mould of switching between formats.

“This is something I have always tried to do. Whenever I get the opportunity to work on setting up for different formats, it is more so mentally than anything related to technique," said Kohli during a virtual press conference.

"The more cricket you play, the more you understand your game better. It is about getting into the mindset, that headspace where you want to play a certain way in a certain format," he added.

Story first published: Thursday, December 2, 2021, 14:36 [IST]
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