Shardul Thakur’s Absence Won’t Affect Team Balance, Says Virat Kohli

Indian captain Virat Kohli has said that the team won’t lack the balance with Shardul Thakur’s absence in the second Test against England at Lord’s, starting on Thursday. He said that as he believes they can strike the right balance as there are enough options to choose from.

Notably, Shardul Thakur has been ruled out of the second Test against England with an injured hamstring as well. And, veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is likely to replace him in the playing XI. However, Virat Kohli feels the batting department is doing good job with both openers and Ravindra Jadeja scored valuable runs during the first Test in Nottingham as well.

“The good thing is that Jadeja has got runs in the first game already, so he will go into the second game confident. That already makes our batting a bit deeper, the lower-order contributed with the bat as well,” said Kohli during the pre-match press conference. “Shardul brings in more batting ability but having said that, from the batsmen’s point of view, we are well placed. Pujara, Rahane and I did not score too many, every game is an opportunity for other batsmen to step up as well.”

However, Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul has batted well in the first innings at Trent Bridge and added an opening stand of 97 runs – their best in outside Asia in over a decade as well. Rahul looked very comfortable whereas Rohit was in full control during his stay in the middle.

“Rohit and KL played really well, we are comfortable with how we are placed. We do not feel that we are batsmen short if Shardul does not play. For us, it is about finding that right balance, if Shardul is not available, we will try to take 20 wickets first and we feel comfortable with how the first Test went,” he further added.

The second Test will take place at Lord’s from August 12.

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