Stuart Binny selection for Colombo Test
There are two ways of using a guy like Stuart. You can keep him for later on in the innings to just give you control or he has the ability to swing the new ball from really good areas. He played the home series against Sri Lanka, in the ODIs, he was given the new ball and he liked it with fielders in catching positions and attacking fields. With the amount of swing he has, he might not be be express pace, but that can really put the batsmen under pressure.
We have that sort of variety when Stuart plays. So it's all about how you use him. As an attacking option or as a defensive option in the middle just because you want to give your other bowlers a rest. With India's batting suffering a fourth innings collapse in the first Test, the addition of an all-rounder in Binny could be tempting for Kohli and his think-tank. Binny has played just three Tests since making his debut in England, but had felt at home in swinging conditions in Nottingham when he scored 78 and batted well with the tail. That attribute too could be a clincher for Binny's inclusion in the second Test. Kohli spoke of the improvement in his batting, the solid technique that he possesses and the need to give him more chances.
His batting abilities are improving. I saw him bat in Zimbabwe and I have seen him bat in England. Once he gains in confidence he is a pretty solid batsman. He has good technique as well. If the wicket is a bit helpful or you need control through the innings, Stuart comes handy in those situations. Everywhere around the world you look, they have a spinning all-rounder and a fast bowler all-rounder, so Stuart is the best in that particular category of seaming all-rounder. So, we need to give him more chances, more confidence, improve him, so we can use him at any stage to provide balance to the team. I think Stuart brings a lot to the table and it is about him getting more confident in his abilities.
While Binny is set to replace one of the three spinners, most likely to be Harbhajan, India are battling with a few injury and fitness issues in the batting department. Shikhar Dhawan was earlier, ruled out of the series and Murali Vijay is in a race against time to prove his fitness. Kohli remains hopeful of Vijay's return to 100 percent fitness and indicated Vijay is likely to play on Thursday.
His (Vijay's) rehab is going well under Patrick who is our new physio. Hopefully he is fully fit. Even if he wants to play, he is keen, then I am sure he can go through whatever discomfort he might have to go through. We will have to take that call but we are pretty certain that he is most probably going to make it.
Reflecting on the Galle Test defeat, Kohli praised his bowling unit which he believed was 'spot on' in the first Test and reckoned his batsmen failed to up their game. However, the Indian skipper said that they weren't concerned about respective departments and will hope to capitalise on pressure situation, which they failed to do as a batting side in the first Test. Chasing 153 on the final day with nine wickets in hand, the Indian batting line-up imploded, handing Sri Lanka a 63-run victory.
The bowlers were really good throughout the game. Obviously, you will have lapses in a game. You can't bowl well in every session and bat well in every session. So, one pleasing thing was the bowlers had the right kind of mindset right throughout the game. They kept attacking throughout the game and the idea was to take 20 wickets. We probably gave ourselves the best chance to finish the game on Day Three. So that's the kind of performance we put in. I think from the last game what we saw was the batting did not step up in the final innings. We are not really concerned with any respective departments. The guys are in the right kind of mindset. As I mentioned earlier, to become a really good team, you will have to capitalise on the pressure situations. We failed to do it as batting unit.
note:http://m.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/74211/virat-kohli-hints-at-stuart-binnys-selection-for-colombo-test
There are two ways of using a guy like Stuart. You can keep him for later on in the innings to just give you control or he has the ability to swing the new ball from really good areas. He played the home series against Sri Lanka, in the ODIs, he was given the new ball and he liked it with fielders in catching positions and attacking fields. With the amount of swing he has, he might not be be express pace, but that can really put the batsmen under pressure.
We have that sort of variety when Stuart plays. So it's all about how you use him. As an attacking option or as a defensive option in the middle just because you want to give your other bowlers a rest. With India's batting suffering a fourth innings collapse in the first Test, the addition of an all-rounder in Binny could be tempting for Kohli and his think-tank. Binny has played just three Tests since making his debut in England, but had felt at home in swinging conditions in Nottingham when he scored 78 and batted well with the tail. That attribute too could be a clincher for Binny's inclusion in the second Test. Kohli spoke of the improvement in his batting, the solid technique that he possesses and the need to give him more chances.
His batting abilities are improving. I saw him bat in Zimbabwe and I have seen him bat in England. Once he gains in confidence he is a pretty solid batsman. He has good technique as well. If the wicket is a bit helpful or you need control through the innings, Stuart comes handy in those situations. Everywhere around the world you look, they have a spinning all-rounder and a fast bowler all-rounder, so Stuart is the best in that particular category of seaming all-rounder. So, we need to give him more chances, more confidence, improve him, so we can use him at any stage to provide balance to the team. I think Stuart brings a lot to the table and it is about him getting more confident in his abilities.
While Binny is set to replace one of the three spinners, most likely to be Harbhajan, India are battling with a few injury and fitness issues in the batting department. Shikhar Dhawan was earlier, ruled out of the series and Murali Vijay is in a race against time to prove his fitness. Kohli remains hopeful of Vijay's return to 100 percent fitness and indicated Vijay is likely to play on Thursday.
His (Vijay's) rehab is going well under Patrick who is our new physio. Hopefully he is fully fit. Even if he wants to play, he is keen, then I am sure he can go through whatever discomfort he might have to go through. We will have to take that call but we are pretty certain that he is most probably going to make it.
Reflecting on the Galle Test defeat, Kohli praised his bowling unit which he believed was 'spot on' in the first Test and reckoned his batsmen failed to up their game. However, the Indian skipper said that they weren't concerned about respective departments and will hope to capitalise on pressure situation, which they failed to do as a batting side in the first Test. Chasing 153 on the final day with nine wickets in hand, the Indian batting line-up imploded, handing Sri Lanka a 63-run victory.
The bowlers were really good throughout the game. Obviously, you will have lapses in a game. You can't bowl well in every session and bat well in every session. So, one pleasing thing was the bowlers had the right kind of mindset right throughout the game. They kept attacking throughout the game and the idea was to take 20 wickets. We probably gave ourselves the best chance to finish the game on Day Three. So that's the kind of performance we put in. I think from the last game what we saw was the batting did not step up in the final innings. We are not really concerned with any respective departments. The guys are in the right kind of mindset. As I mentioned earlier, to become a really good team, you will have to capitalise on the pressure situations. We failed to do it as batting unit.
note:http://m.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/74211/virat-kohli-hints-at-stuart-binnys-selection-for-colombo-test
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