{"id":55357,"date":"2018-08-18T01:57:34","date_gmt":"2018-08-18T08:57:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=55357"},"modified":"2018-08-18T01:57:46","modified_gmt":"2018-08-18T08:57:46","slug":"kohli-hits-out-at-critics-of-chop-and-change-policy-calls-it-bizarre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/kohli-hits-out-at-critics-of-chop-and-change-policy-calls-it-bizarre\/","title":{"rendered":"Kohli Hits Out at Critics of Chop-and-Change Policy, Calls It \u2018Bizarre\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

File photo of Indian skipper Virat Kohli during 4th day of the 2nd cricket test match against Sri Lanka, in Nagpur, Nov. 27, 2017. (Shashank Parade\/PTI)<\/em><\/p>\n

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Indian skipper Virat Kohli said, Aug. 17, his players don\u2019t feel threatened because of his chop-and-change policy and called it \u201cquite a bizarre thought to have,\u201d taking a dig at those questioning the trend, writes Chetan Narula.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Kohli has made 37 changes in 37 Tests as captain and that trend looks set to continue when India meet England in a must-win third Test, in Nottingham, UK, Aug. 18.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone is thinking like that. These are just things that are created on the outside and people like to make a lot of nothing. For us the priority is to win games of cricket. We are not thinking whether someone\u2019s career is on the line or what\u2019s going to happen to their future,\u201d Kohli said.<\/p>\n

World number one India trail the five-match series 0-2.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to focus on this Test and not think about whether someone\u2019s career is on the line. It\u2019s quite bizarre thought to have,\u201d Kohli told reporters at the pre-match press conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s basically your thinking. I\u2019m definitely not thinking like that, so, I won\u2019t speak to the guys assuring their careers are not on the line. Like I said, that\u2019s quite a bizarre thought to have,\u201d he added, when further asked if he had provided any security to his teammates as captain.<\/p>\n

Kohli said he has sent out a message to his teammates asking them to focus solely on the team\u2019s requirements.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know when your back is against the wall is the time for you not to think anything else. From another point of you, it\u2019s a good situation to be in because you have no room for thinking about anything else apart from what the team requires at that particular moment from you throughout the Test.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only conversation we\u2019ve had is that the only option is to win this game and nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kohli stressed on thinking from a team point of view, in terms of batting and carrying themselves on the field, in a bid to overturn the 2-0 deficit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about you feeling positive first and that\u2019s the conversation we\u2019ve had for the last few days. It is up to the individuals to stand up, and say I\u2019m going to go out there and make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
File photo of Indian skipper Virat Kohli during 4th day of the 2nd cricket test match against Sri Lanka, in Nagpur, Nov. 27, 2017. (Shashank Parade\/PTI)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Talking about what the batsmen need to do in conditions that suit the bowlers, Kohli said, \u201cWhen you play here in conditions, you have to accept that even if you are batting on 100, you are not set. You can get a good ball at any time and you have to accept that as a batsman when you go out to bat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are fearful of that ball coming then you will not be able to do your process properly. When that ball comes, and incident happens, you have to accept it and move on. But it doesn\u2019t mean that you surrender beforehand because a good ball is going to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The skipper declared himself fit for this Test after recovering from his back issues suffered at Lord\u2019s. Jasprit Bumrah has also recovered from a fractured hand and is primed for a comeback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am feeling absolutely fine. It\u2019s been an issue that\u2019s coming on and off again. I got it in 2011 first time and it happens with the workload. Back is such a thing you don\u2019t know when it\u2019s going to go off.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll you can do is strengthen the muscles around it. Bit of strengthening, ample rest, proper rehab it gets me back into shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally, Rishabh Pant looks set to make his Test debut, as he was busy batting and practicing behind the wickets to pacers.<\/p>\n

The skipper didn\u2019t confirm these changes, but at the same time said that the thought of playing an extra batsman will only be considered if the conditions are loaded in favor of bowlers, like at Lord\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery excited with Jasprit getting fit again. He\u2019s an attacking bowler who bowls good lines and lengths. He\u2019s very consistent in hitting the areas that are required at the Test level. He showed that in South Africa already and he\u2019s one guy who\u2019s really aggressive in mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wants to take the situation front on and basically make the batsmen feel uncomfortable. That\u2019s been his biggest strength and he relishes the challenge whenever given an opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys who are bowling well are the ones who are going to start. That\u2019s something that everyone is aware of. I don\u2019t see any issues,\u201d he added, hinting that Umesh Yadav might miss out again.<\/p>\n

Talking about the possibility of an additional batsman, the captain said, \u201cWell it depends on what the surface is like. If it\u2019s got enough and has lots of assistance for the bowlers, the extra batsman might come into play. If not, if the pitch is going to be quite even for batting and bowling, then obviously picking up 20 wickets is going to be priority.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe batsmen will have to take responsibility and get the runs on the board. If you don\u2019t pick 20 wickets, as I said in the past, you can score as many runs as you want; it\u2019s not about saving one discipline but one discipline taking responsibility of their job and the other discipline taking responsibility of theirs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

File photo of Indian skipper Virat Kohli during 4th day of the 2nd cricket test match against Sri Lanka, in Nagpur, Nov. 27, 2017. (Shashank Parade\/PTI) Indian skipper Virat Kohli said, Aug. 17, his players don\u2019t feel threatened because of his chop-and-change policy and called it \u201cquite a bizarre thought to have,\u201d taking a dig…<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":55338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[276,1848,19],"tags":[95,50,7848,147,2473],"class_list":["post-55357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","category-society","category-topics","tag-cricket","tag-india","tag-india-vs-england-test-series-2018","tag-siliconeer","tag-virat-kohli"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}