Ind vs SA: Kohli to decide starting 11 after Friday’s practice, uses sarcasm to counter Rahane selection puzzle

India captain Virat Kohli today took a dig at critics questioning Ajinkya Rahane’s exclusion in the first Test against South Africa, stating that those who wanted his deputy’s omission are now clamouring for his comeback.

“It’s funny how things change in a matter of weeks, or just about five days. Before the first Test no-one thought that he should be in the eleven and now suddenly people are looking at the other option,” Kohli said on the eve of the second Test, here. The captain’s comment is interesting given that Rahane’s selection in the playing XI had not been called into question even once.

In fact, given his stupendous overseas record, it came as quite a shocker when his name was missing from the final XI for the first Test which India lost by 72 runs in three playing days in Cape Town. “For us as a team, it’s all about finding the right balance. If players fit in in the kind of balance we want to go in with as a side, then they will fit in. We certainly don’t go on opinions that are created outside, and talk of the town and all those sort of things,” Kohli’s sarcasm …read more