Fast-Bowlers Not ‘Desperate’ For Five-Fers, Want To Do The Job For The Team: Virat Kohli

Jan 9, 2019 at 4:12 PM

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Fast-Bowlers Not ‘Desperate’ For Five-Fers, Want To Do The Job For The Team: Virat Kohli

Speaking to media ahead of the fourth Test against England, India skipper Virat Kohli has said his pacers are not desperate to pick up five-wicket hauls but are more focused on doing the job for the team. 

While there is absolutely no denying the fact that spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have been the major architects of India’s impressive performances in Tests in recent months, one cannot deny the contribution of pacers.

When Indian spinners were finding it tough to dismiss the West Indies batsmen in the third Test at Gros Islet in August, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, playing his first Test in a year and a half, destroyed the hosts with a spell of 11.4-6-16-5 as the West Indies went from 202 for 3 to 225 all out. India went on to win the match by 237 runs.

In the second Test at Eden Gardens against New Zealand, pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar (5) and Mohammed Shami (3) picked up eight wickets between them to set up the victory for India.

The pacers have impressed again in the ongoing series against England. Umesh Yadav (6) and Mohammed Shami (10) have picked up 16 wickets in the series so far and have played an integral part in the victories at Vizag and Mohali. More than their wickets tally, the way they have bowled has garnered lavish praise from all corners. The pace duo have shown a remarkable display of pace bowling and have overshadowed the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad. They’ve consistently troubled English batsmen with their pace and reverse swing. Their performances have given rise to speculations that India finally have a bowling line-up that can help them do well abroad.

And when a journalist asked Kohli whether the Indian pace department has improved in recent times, he said:

“It certainly helps when guys have identified their faults in their past and they are willing to work on it. I think one area that they have worked really hard is consistency and understanding that you don’t necessarily have to come at the batsman all the time. It’s important to have patience in particular sessions and for that, you need to get fitter. You need to get fitter to keep bowling those disciplined lines, those fourth-fifth stump lines because you might bowl four overs and you feel like this is a waste of my energy,” he said.

“I need to utilise my energy to pick up a wicket and you bowl towards the batsman for three overs and you go for 25 runs which turn the session completely. Compared to that, going for four runs at five runs and putting extra batsman to make mistakes and go for those runs, I think it’s been a process that they have followed. It’s been a routine that they have been a part of where they get physically stronger, they get mentally more stronger to keep bowling in those areas.

“As I have mentioned before, they are not desperate to come and pick up five wickets and show why are all spinners taking the wickets. They are pretty happy playing their role and as a captain, I think that is the most important thing in a team when people are willing to play their roles and not get desperate or selfish at any stage of the game. I think that’s been a key factor for us to get the results that we wanted and come back from difficult situations,” Kohli concluded.

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