I dont think Ishant should be dropped: Kohli Jaipur, October 15 Indias young sensation Virat Kohli defended his Delhi teammate Ishant Sharma, whose place in the side has come under serious pressure after the Australians bludgeoned him all over the park in the T20 International and first ODI of the ongoing series. I dont think you can drop a player on the basis of two poor matches. Ishant has had some good performances in England (Champions Trophy) and West Indies. Especially in England, he was an important bowler for us. You cant just write off somebody like that, he said. Pressed if the fast-bowler should be overlooked, Kohli said: In T20s, everyone gets hit. Even Australian bowlers went for 200 plus score. They didnt change their bowlers in the next match. This is my opinion and rest is on the team management. I am not the captain or the coach to decide on selection matters. The Australian bowlers, Mitchell Johnson in particular, troubled India in the first ODI with raw pace and Kohli admitted that his side needs to watch out and be ready for the challenge. Their pace is in our mind but short-pitch deliveries can be bowled by anyone. Its not a special trait for Australia, England or South Africa. Even Sri Lanka and Pakistan also use short-pitched stuff. I have always said that if you see the mode of dismissals, its more about a catch in slips, leg before or bowled. Very few batsmen get out to short deliveries. Its not a wicket-taking delivery but a tactic used by teams. But at international level, one should be ready to play any delivery that is thrown at him, Kohli said. The right-handed batsman defended his bowlers and didnt want to look back too much into his sides loss at Pune. It was one such day when we didnt do well. I feel that we fielded pretty well but our bowling wasnt up to the mark. We also lost wickets at crucial times. I got a start but couldnt convert into a big score which has always been my aim. If you look at the last 20 ODIs that we have played before this series, only once did our bowlers bowl badly. That was during a match in West Indies tri-series where the bowlers went for 340 against Sri Lanka, said Kohli. However, Kohli was quick to agree that the bowlers need to work on their death bowling. Yes, death bowling is an area where we need to improve. Ours is a new team and experience comes by playing matches. Bowling at the death requires certain amount of skill which we develop over a period of time, stressed Kohli. After having had a good look at the Sawai Man Singh wicket, Kohli said it was a usual Jaipur track and added that it will be equal for both teams despite it being known to favour pace and bounce. At the end, you need to play proper cricketing strokes to get value for your shots, he said. Kohli praised the current Australian lot while maintaining that the Indian batsman should pull up their socks and do well. Its a pretty good Australian team with a lot of young talent and self belief. Our batsmen need to plan much better and express themselves against their bowlers. Shane Watson and James Faulkner played a number of games for the Rajasthan at this venue and asked if that will give an added advantage to Australia, Kohli concluded: They have played a lot of T20 cricket in Jaipur but 50-over cricket is an altogether different ball game. You need different skills to bowl in 50-over matches. The length that gets you a wicket in T20s wont get you a wicket in one-dayers. We have a lot of experience of playing ODIs and we will bring that all into account.
Posted on: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 05:20:55 +0000
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