Galle, July 25:
India captain Virat Kohli today hinted that Hardik Pandya may get his maiden Test cap against Sri Lanka tomorrow as he chose to underline the all-rounder’s wicket-taking ability on all kind of tracks.
India had lost to Sri Lanka at Galle during the 2015 series when Kohli went in with a combination of five specialist bowlers with a batsman short in the playing XI.
However the presence of Pandya, who bowls fast medium close to 140 clicks and is a capable batsman, provides Kohli with the balance that he so aspires.
“Last time, we felt we probably were a batsman short and the fifth bowler did not do much in the game. We have those options again, but we have great balance in the side as well. We have got a guy like Hardik Pandya, who is a wicket-taking bowler. Every game that he plays, on any surface, he has a knack of picking wickets. He has a great chance of playing as well,” Kohli explained.
He referred how Stuart Binny’s small contributions became important in next two Tests that India won.
“In the next two Tests on that 2015 tour, we played an all-rounder (Binny) and that made all the difference. The extra batsmen would give us more solidity. (PTI)
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