Virat Kohli confirms KL Rahul's return in the second Test

India romped past hosts Sri Lanka in the first Test at Galle and the openers played a pivotal role in the victory. Shikhar Dhawan's swash-buckling 190 in the first innings followed by Abhinav Mukund's second innings 81 runs helped India register a convincing 304-run win setting the record of the biggest win (by runs) at Galle.

However, the brilliant knocks played by the Indian openers raised questions on KL Rahul's return into the side who had been laid low by fever and missed out on playing the first Test. But, Virat Kohli clarified that Rahul will make a return to the Indian squad at the cost of either Dhawan or Mukund. Rahul's inclusion in the squad should not surprise anyone as the Karnataka lad has made the spot his very own scoring at an average of 44.44 in the 17 innings he has played which is more than the average of both Mukund and Dhawan.

“KL Rahul has been our establish opener. One of the openers will have to make way for KL. What he has done in the past two years for us is very solid and he deserves to come back and start fresh in Test cricket,” Kohli told Indian Express.

However, Kohli said that a final decision will be taken after the team meeting while throwing his weight behind Rahul's inclusion in the squad.

“We have a team meeting after the practice and we can clarify more after the meeting but according to me, KL is definitely coming back at the top order,” he said.

The Indian skipper did not reveal his cards on the squad that will take on the field at Colombo in the second Test starting on Thursday.

“There is a lot of grass. When you have big squad there are a lot of possibilities. We don’t like to announce anything a day prior. It’s sort of a surprise for opposition. Looking on the conditions we can go with anyone. Everyone is prepared to take the field,” he said.

India, who are 1-0 ahead in the three-match Test series will look to seal the series with a win at Colombo and Kohli assured that the nature of the pitch will definitely lead the game to a conclusive end.

“Last time around as well we thought it was a great wicket for Test cricket. Batsmen had to apply themselves to get runs, bowlers were in the game throughout. So it is a wicket that you will get a result on and that excites us. That is something we look forward to as a team. This is the kind of wicket we like to play on where we have to chance to make an impact on the game throughout,” he concluded.