Despite Ajinkya Rahane’s dry spell and absence from India’s emphatic second Test triumph over New Zealand on Monday, skipper Virat Kohli praised the veteran batsman, vowing that his squad will back past performers.
Rahane, who led the hosts in the drawn first Test and scored just 35 and four, was forced to miss the last game owing to a hamstring injury, and Kohli, who had been on a sabbatical, took his place.
The 33-year-old has a sub-20 average in 12 games this season, and his injury pull-out was viewed as a legitimate reason to drop him in Mumbai by Indian media.
“I can’t judge his form. No one can judge it. Only the individual knows what he’s going through,” Kohli told reporters.
“We need to back them in these moments, especially when they have done well in the past. We don’t have this environment where we have our players asking ‘what happens now?’.”
Kohli said the team was unaffected by outside criticism of individual performances.
“We support everybody in the side, Ajinkya or anyone. We don’t take decisions based on what happens outside,” he added.
‘Good year’, ‘good headache’
In Mumbai, India won the second Test by 372 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series.
Despite losing the world Test championship final to New Zealand in June and failing to reach the T20 World Cup semi-finals last month, Kohli maintained his squad was on a high.
“We’ve had a fantastic year and have played some excellent cricket. In the T20 World Cup and the World Test Championship, there were two setbacks “he stated
“We gained a lot of confidence from our victories in England and Australia. See, the Indian team is expected to win it all, but it is unrealistic; we know what we need to work on and improve on, and we are looking forward.”
Opener Mayank Agarwal was named man of the match in Mumbai for his 150 and 62 in India’s dominant batting show.
The team is currently brimming with young talent including Shreyas Iyer, who sparkled on debut in the first Test with 105 and 65 to make his case in the long-format team.
Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj took three wickets in the Black Caps’ first innings, while off-spinner Jayant Jadav returned career-best figures of 4-49.
“It’s a good situation to be in, we’ve had injuries in the lead-up, so we need to manage our players physically and mentally,” said coach Rahul Dravid.
“It’s going to be a large part of my challenge. Challenge too for the selectors and the leadership group. It’s a good headache to have.”
India now travel to South Africa for three Tests starting December 26 followed by three one-day internationals in a tour shortened by worries over the new Covid Omicron variant.