The first Test at Rajkot was a learning curve for the Test side, agreed captain Virat Kohli. According to Virat, it was an eye opener of sorts for himself and the team to deal with pressure situations and react to scenarios that weren’t encountered in the past.“We approached it as an opportunity to improve on that aspect which we would need for the next 10-12 years. To be a successful team you need to play in every situation and the good thing was that two-three of our players applied themselves along with me and relished and cherished that situation rather than being under pressure. So, it was a big positive for me,” Virat said on the eve of the second Test at Vizag.
Talking about his personal takeaway from his gutsy 49 in the second innings, Virat said, “My biggest challenge was to not think too much about the situation that I was in. I think to find that balance was a revelation for my own mindset. Sometimes you tend to over think, thinking too much about where the bowler is going to bowl or what he is going to do next to get you out, how much time is left in the game. Rather than that, I was just focussing on one ball at a time and trying to take my mind off the situation.
“Not actually thinking too much about that situation helps a lot. So, you need to put your mind on the back burner as soon as possible, and to play that one particular delivery. That was something which was a challenge for me and I was able to do that in the second innings. That gave me more satisfaction as a batsman than scoring a hundred or getting a big score. Taking up a challenge is always something that feels nice when you achieve it. As I said it was an opportunity for me to learn as well and that’s something that I learned about myself.”
Apart from the batsmen amassing runs, the pitch was much talked about. It was a flat pitch with very little for the bowlers to exploit. Vizag could turn out to be different from Rajkot according to toVirat. “Generally in Vizag, the pitch has always been something that helps the spinners. So, I expect the pitch to play similarly. In the one-dayer here (against New Zealand), the spinners got a few wickets. But at the same time, the quick bowlers also had some assistance early on. It’s a wicket where spinners will find it really nice to bowl on and expect the same going into the game. As I mentioned in Rajkot as well, I was surprised to see that much grass on the wicket. I hope it’s not the case this time around in Vizag because we want to focus on our strengths and play the cricket that we have as a team at home and put the pressure on the opposition.”
India began preparations for the second Test with a light game of football and close catching drills the previous day and went about their full-fledged routine on Test match eve. Preparations were on in full swing as everyone took turns at the nets under the watchful eyes of coach Anil Kumble and batting coach Sanjay Bangar. India are bolstered by the return of KL Rahul in the squad who is coming off a six-week injury lay off. Rahul though has proved complete match fitness and in all probability will be in the starting eleven replacing Gautam Gambhir.
“We had it pretty clear in our minds that Rahul is our No.1 choice along with Vijay. And when he is fit at any stage he comes back into the side (and) we are going to start with him. So, that was the whole idea behind it. We were waiting for him to recover as soon as possible and in the meantime, Gautam got the chances that he got and he played really well in different situations. But that’s how the team combinations go - If you want to play with the combination that you think has the best balance, as far as the team management is concerned and the captain is concerned, we want to go with that.
“We were very clear in our heads that as soon as KL Rahul is fit, we will call him back into the squad – be it pulling him out of the first-class game as far as it’s within the rules and regulations. I don’t think we needed to think any differently to call back Rahul into the side, we are actually glad that he is back into the side.”
